


Why's It Gotta Be A Snake (Book 1)

by FantasyFreedom



Series: Alex Taylor [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-05-19 15:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5971288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyFreedom/pseuds/FantasyFreedom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex Taylor comes from a rich pure-blood family, she lives in a manor, her father is well respected, and she has everything she needs. But she hates the cold open-spaces of her room, hates being alone in a house that can comfortably keep fifty people, and she doesn't want to go into the Slytherin House at Hogwarts. She has the most rotten luck too. OC [Complete]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I get a hair cut

Ch 1

I run through Kings Cross station out of breath as I push a cart weighed down by my trunks. A small grey, almost white, feline rests on my shoulder with a death-like grip to keep from falling off.

Her claws make me wince as they dig deeper after having accidentally bumped into someone.

The large number nine comes into view and I relax slightly at my first-ever good fortune.

I'm not late for the train, at least, not yet. The large family that just walked through the doors however, might be.

My dad had dropped me off just outside the doors, but it took longer than I had expected to get my trunk into a cart.

In the end, two muggle men had helped me out.

I slow as I come to the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters, nervous for the briefest of seconds.

My father had of course told me what I was supposed to do, but it still seemed quite strange to me.

After a pause, I pushed my cart and walked through the wall.

It was even more loud and chaotic on the other side.

The whistle of the Hogwarts Express shrilled loudly over the notice of witches and wizards alike saying goodbye to children and owls swooping over heads. A few rats scurry along the floor, carefully being stalked by differently marked cats and I think I even saw a toad somewhere in the midst.

It was magnificent and for the first time since receiving the acceptance letter, I let myself feel a thrill of excitement.

I tip the cart and let my trunk spill onto the ground just before the steps of the train.

I tug hard until I become red in the face and my arms give out.

It thumps back to the ground with only having lifted an inch.

"Wingdarium leviosa." A voice calls and like magic, which of course it was, my trunk lifts off the ground and hovers in the air.

I look up from my collapsed and gasping position on the stairs to see pretty brown eyes looking down at me.

"Hello." The girl, who can't be much older than me, says. "I figured you can use some help, if that's okay?"

"Are you kidding? Yeah, thanks!" I say leaping to my feet.

She, like most other wizarding folk, is wearing muggle cloths. But unlike most of the others, hers seems more naturally selected.

She's muggle born, I decide, or at least muggle raised.

She has brown bushy hair but it frames a cute face. She smiles at me and leads me into the train with my trunk floating just in front of her.

"I'm Hermione by the way, what's your name?"

"Alex." I say

We make it to the far back of the train before we find an empty compartment, but a trunk is already lying in it. She sets mine down next to it and smiles.

"You can sit in here with me and my friends." She looks worriedly out the window at all the people saying last minute goodbyes. "If they ever make it." She murmurs.

"Oh! There are the Weasley's!" She says suddenly after several seconds, making me jump. "Good, they made it." She relaxes more into the seat cushions and studies me closely, like I'm a fascinating book.

I shift uncomfortably, my feet flopping uselessly off the ground.

I grab my cat- kitten actually- off my shoulder where her claws still dig in. She's a tiny thing, definitely the runt of the litter just being slightly bigger than my hand, and my dad would not be pleased that I chose her out of all the more nobler pets in the wizard pet shop.

Hermione's eyes light up at seeing her. She had previously been hidden by my long hair.

"Oh, she's so cute! What's her name?" She asks jumping down to pet her.

"Astrid. It's Norse for divine strength."

I had just gotten her yesterday when I went to pick up my books. My father had given me money to get a pet, said most of the first years will have one, but he hasn't actually seen her yet. "She may be small but she can survive."

The door to our compartment opens and we both look up to find a girl standing there. She's small like me, though I'm still the tiniest first year I've seen, and she has fiery red hair that is messy as if she had been running.

She pants slightly as she looks us over. "Can I sit in here?" She asks.

"Of course. Ginny this is Alex, Alex, Ginny."

"Hi." I murmur looking down, petting my kitten as she purrs, and blushing.

There is a rattling as she struggles to pull her luggage into the compartment with us.

When she finally gets it, she sits down with a sigh and the train starts moving. Then she just stares at me.

"Wait, where's your brother? And Harry?"

Ginny looks up at the clearly older girl and opens her mouth in an O shape that makes me giggle.

"They were just behind us, they should have made it." She says looking around as if they were hiding in the small room.

Hermione bites her lip nervously and looks out the window.

"What happened?" Ginny asks and I turn to see her looking at me. She moves along the seat to sit closer and touches my cheek.

I jerk away slightly, blushing.

"I fell." I say covering the small bruise just beneath my right eye.

"Oh." She says and retracts her hand. "You don't talk much do you?"

"I don't know what to say." I admit.

"How about hello?"

"Hello." I say and she giggles. A weird fuzzy feeling, like giddiness, floods my stomach and a smile can't help but form on my face too.

So we talk easily with each other and Hermione, though she keeps worrying about this Ron and Harry, until a plump witch rolls by with a cart full of sweets that makes my stomach growl.

I fish in my pocket for a few galleons that I stole from my father- he wouldn't miss any of it- and pay for a hole arm full which I then proceed to share with my new friends.

Our compartment door slamming open interrupts our happy chatter.

A boy stands there, hair so light that it's almost white, and two other, much larger boys flank him.

They seem to be about Hermione's age and she's glaring at them. She had leapt to her feet the moment the door slid open.

"What do you want Malfoy?" She growls making me blink. She was so nice to me; what did this boy do to make her like this?

The boy sneers at her and I'm taken aback.

"Where's Potter, Granger. He get scarred of being showed up and decide to just not come to school?"

"Eat slugs," she spits, clenching her wand at her side. The blond boy's own hand is twitching nervously at his side.

He's scared of her, I realize. She must be a really great witch.

Their hands twitch and I suddenly realize that they are going to fight.

Ginny seems to understand this too because she ducks underneath the seat. I don't have that good fortune as they both shoot curses at the same time.

They hit mid air and bounce off each other's, Hermione's splitting and hitting the tall boys on either side of the Malfoy kid, getting bright pink hair each, and his bouncing off the window.

I give a small shriek as it comes straight at my face and I twist quickly.

Something solid hits me in the back making me surge forward and bang my head on the metal rim on the seats.

I groan, clutching my throbbing forehead.

Warm hands grasp my face and turn it up as tears well in the corners of my eyes.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Alex." Her wide brown eyes stare into mine worriedly.

"S'okay, I've had worse." I mumble rubbing the lump tenderly.

A glance at the door tells me that that Malfoy kid ran away. The butt face- it was his curse.

"Oh no, look at your hair!" Ginny says as her hands hover over my head.

I touch it curiously only to find my hands come away white and sticky.

The bloody kid got glue stuck in my hair.

I groan loudly. "Bloody hell."

They look at me in surprise but I just move Astrid from my lap and kneel next to my trunk.

After rummaging through it for a while, I find the muggle tools I was looking for.

"Muggles call these scissors. They're used to cut things." I say as I turn my head upside down, bunch my hair up in one hand, and snip it all off.

Hermione gasps and reaches forward to stop me but the ruined locks have already fallen to the floor.

"Watch the door, will you?" I ask, ignoring their wide eyed shock, and start tugging at my ruined muggle clothes. "I should get into my school robes soon anyway."

I turn my back to them and pull off my shirt as I once again search around my trunk.

Cold fingers graze my rips making me gasp and jerk.

Ginny looks up at me with wide, innocent green eyes. "What happened?" She asks softly.

I quickly pull a shirt over my head and move to straighten my hair only to realize that it's all gone now.

"I told you, I fell. Help me fix my hair?" I request and hand her the scissors. The only good I had done was hack all the gunk out, but now it was uneven and sticking everywhere.

"Um..." She looks down at the muggle tools with a frown.

Hermione steps forward and takes them gently. "Here, let me do it."

She works carefully and quickly, evening it and putting it into a style. When she puts the shears down, Ginny giggles.

"You look like a boy."

I grin and run my hands through my short, light brown hair.

It's very different from the previous overly long length.

"You're even wearing a boys uniform. Why?" Hermione's asks.

"Heh heh, well... See, I don't like skirts very much because they make me trip. Plus, these are much more comfortable." She rolls her eyes.

"It's against school regulation." She says and I grin.

"It's okay, I always get in trouble for one thing or another. Might as well be comfortable doing it right?"

She rolls her eyes but I swear I can see a smile twitch her lips just the slightest bit.

Right then, the train starts to slow.

"Hurry up, you've both got to change!" I say and step up to the door. "I'll make sure no one comes in."

And for the next five minutes, all I hear is the shifting of clothes.


	2. I am not a boy

Ch 2

It's dark on the grounds of Hogwarts and hundreds of kids group up in the dark.

"Firs' years over here!" A voice booms above all the other voices. A large figure slowly takes shape in the light of a lantern held high above the ground.

I stager forward with Ginny clutching my robes nervously until we stand in a group of younger kids that I'm only slightly shorter than.

"Follow me then!" The giant figure calls and leads the way across the grounds until we come to a lake.

I clutch my cat tighter to my chest as the first years start climbing into little boats, three to a person.

Ginny and I get in with another boy and the boat lurches forward right as I sit down making me grip the edges tightly.

It would be just my luck to fall into the water.

But it doesn't seem to me that has the misfortune this time, but another boy that could possibly be even smaller than me.

Something large rises out of the water and I gasp as a giant tentacle sets the boy back into the boat and I can hear a giggling coming from him.

But then our boats hit the ground and we are lead up the grounds to an enormous castle that has me tilting my head back and gaping.

Ginny beside me is bouncing slightly in excitement.

The large man with the wild hair leaves us there in the entrance hall with an older witch.

"Hello, I'm professor McGonagall. We are about to start the sorting ceremony where you will be sorted into your houses. This is where you will eat, sleep, and take all your classes with from now until you graduate. Any questions?"

I bite my lip to stop from spouting off all the questions that find themselves on my tongue.

"Right then, in you go!" She says and ushers us through the large doors leading to the banquet hall.

Hundreds of students stare as we go in and nervousness crawls through my stomach and up my throat.

Four long rows of tables take up the hall but we are stopped right in front of the single one perpendicular to it that holds older witches and wizards.

Professor McGonagall walks forward and places a four-legged stool in front of everyone and on it, an old frayed hat.

She steps back and the hall grows deathly silent.

And then a tear opens in its side, and it starts to sing.

It describes the houses for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. When it stops the hall booms with clapping.

Then McGonagall steps forward and starts reading names off of a parchment.

"Adeline, Amy."

A shaking first year steps forward and sits on the stool, putting the hat on her head.

It drops down over her eyes it is so big.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" It shouts into the silence and applause comes from the second table, loud and cheerful.

And it continues down the list, name after name.

"Where's my brother?" Ginny asks beside me and I turn to look at her.

She's looking intently at the first table where I can see Hermione.

Farther down I can see two older boys pushing and shoving each other, all but paying attention to the sorting. They look identical and both have as red hair as Ginny.

"GRIFFENDOR!" The hat shouts and grinning, the first year goes to the applauding first table.

My heart sinks.

"Taylor, Alexis." McGonagall calls and I dread every step I take toward the hat.

It falls over my eyes and then I hear a soft voice in my ear.

"Hmm... Well, well, well, such a sad childhood. You would do well in Gryffindor, or maybe Ravenclaw, though you do have a slight affinity to Slytherin. You want to prove yourself to your father, though I can't see why..."

"Please Slytherin," I mentally beg. "I have to be in Slytherin."

"Are you sure? You won't be very happy there."

I clench my fists. "I have to be in Slytherin."

The hat seems to sigh. "Alright then- but you would do much better in Gryffindor. SLYTHERIN!" It shouts finally and I stand up shakily, putting the frayed hat back onto the stool and making my way to the fourth table.

The kids there look mean and they grin at me like I just joined the dark side.

I swallow thickly and take a seat with the other first years, keeping my eyes on the table.

When "Weasley, Ginny" is called, I look up at her pale face.

She frowns sadly at me before sitting down and placing the hat on her head.

"GRIFFENDOR!" It shouts and she makes her way to the first table. I sigh and look back down.

When the last person is called and sorted, McGonagall takes the stool and hat and disappears as Dumbledore stands up from the teachers' table.

He talks, welcoming us and telling us the off limits, and when he's done, food just appears on the table.

My stomach growls in hunger; all I had had today were the candies on the train, and that was hours ago.

I stuff my face until I'm full and then that Malfoy kid comes walking up.

I swallow hard and wipe my hands on my trousers.

"Hello," he greets and I blink. "I'm Draco." He extends his hand.

"Alex." I take it uncertainly.

But then I realize that he must not recognize me from the train. I have short, messy, boyish hair now and Ginny even said that I look like a boy.

I smile more confident now and relax into the seat.

I will form my own judgments on people and not make someone else's rivalry my own. He might actually be nice to other people.

A wriggling in my robes brings my attention to my cat still clinging to my chest.

I carefully let her out and she crawls onto my shoulder. I give her a price of chicken.

Draco laughs at me and I look up curiously.

"What is that?" He points at Astrid.

"My kitty."

"That's not a cat, it's more of a rat!"

A rumbling growl shakes the small body on my shoulder and I frown.

She hisses at him.

Maybe he is just mean.

"This is Astrid and she doesn't seem to like you." I turn in my seat away from him.

"Who cares, my owl can eat it for breakfast."

Anger bubbles in me but he's bigger that me- by a lot- and I don't want to get into trouble on my first day.

I decide to ignore him and force myself to eat some more chocolate tart.

The first years around me look nervously at the older boy and pretend that they don't hear or see anything.

Then people start to get up so I follow, feeding Astrid more chicken as we walk.

We wind through halls and then start going down where it's dark. I trip along, following blindly through the dungeons until we reach a blank stone wall and a prefect steps forward.

"Pure-blood." He says, and a door springs open.

The common room is large and round with a fire lit in the blazer.

The boys start going up the stairs to the right so I follow the girls up the left.

When we get to the first year chambers, one of them notices me and gives a little shriek. I look behind me but no one is there.

"What?" I ask.

"Boys are on the other side!" She says.

"I'm a girl." I say irritated and go to the bed that has my trunk in front of it. It's the one on the far back wall in the darkest corner.

I hate the dark.

She stares open mouthed at me while I strip down and pull on warm fluffy muggle pajamas. They really are soft, and much more comfy that wizard silk gowns.

Astrid curls up against my neck and quickly falls asleep.

I'm still awake long after the room fills with snores and I stay that way until what I guess is the early morning.

Finally, I fall asleep.

I wake up still in the dark, but something tells me that it's the morning because no one else is in the room. Nobody had bothered waking me.

I spring from my bed startling Astrid awake and lung for my wardrobe, slinging on my uniform and stuffing my yawning kitten down the front of my robes.

She gives me a sharp bite to tell me how much she appreciates it as I stuff on my muggle boots and shove my wand into it.

Eleven inches, oak wood with a dragon eyelash core and dipped in phoenix tears.

While at Olivander's I had tried almost every wand when I spotted this one dusty and stuffed behind a bookshelf. He had grown pale when I picked it up and sparks flew out of it.

He had tried to find me a different wand but something about it made me ask for it. He reluctantly wrapped it and sent me away with a wish of luck.

It feels warm against my leg now, like it had been sitting in front of a heater all night and I hurry faster to the dinning hall.

Many of the people were already leaving except for a few stragglers stuffing last minute bacon into their mouths.

I frown when I see that Hermione and Ginny are no longer at the Gryffindor table.

I snag a piece of toast and rush back out the door, knowing that I won't have time for anything else.

My books are already in my bag and I rush down to the dungeons for first period potions.

I walk in right as Professor Snape is letting them in and I slip past.

We have this class with Gryffindor and I grin as I see Ginny sitting alone at a table.

I sit down happily and smile at her.

"Hey Ginny; sorry I didn't see you at breakfast, I over slept and no one woke me up."

She looks at me in surprise.

"What?" I ask, looking down at myself to see what's wrong. I blush and start to redo my tie. I don't really know how to tie them, so yesterday I just went without.

"No it's not that." She says, pushing my hands away to do it herself. "I'm just surprised that you're talking to me."

I cock my head. "Why?"

She shrugs. "Well, Slytherins usually hate Gryffindors."

"I don't hate a person if I don't have a reason to. It's pointless. Why would I hate someone just because of the House they're in if they could be a good friend. It's just stupid."

She smiles as she finishes tying my tie and I return it.

"Five points from Gryffindor, Miss Weasley, for talking in my class."

I blink.

"What? But Professor Snape, I was the one talking."

Snape glares down his crooked nose at me along with all the other Slytherins.

"Another five points from Gryffindor. Would you like me to take another five, Mr. Taylor?"

Mister?

"What?! But-"

A hand grips my arm, hard, and I turn to look at Ginny furiously. She shakes her head so I sit back down, clenching my jaw.

"No sir."

"Good. Now can someone tell me the use of lacewing fly?"

I scowl as he turns his back to me and some of the Slytherins give me a thumbs up.

Jerks- they act like I meant to get points taken away from Gryffindor.

"I'm sorry." I murmur behind a cauldron.

"It's okay." She says. "My brother said he was like this, I just didn't expect him to start so soon."

Five more points are taken from Gryffindor by the end of the class, by a boy named Colin Creevy.

"That wasn't so bad." Ginny says cheerfully and I glower at her.

"He called me Mister."

She tousles my already messy hair and I try to duck away, pouting.

"It's your own fault for dressing in the boys uniform. And you didn't have to cut your hair; Madam Pomfrey could have fixed it in seconds."

"I was not going to wait that long to get that goop out of my hair."

She laughs making me grin.

"I have Defense Against the Dark Arts next with Ravenclaw."

"I've got Herbology with Hufflepuff; see you at lunch?" She asks.

"Sure. See ya." I say and we then have to split off to different part of the school.

After falling through two disappearing steps and a wrong turn that almost costs me my eyebrows, I open the door to my Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

I expected weapons and chains pinned to dark stone walls, but it's bright and has many pictures of the author of all the book that we were supposed to get this year.

Someone is I fan, I think to myself while taking a seat next to another Slytherin girl.

Personally, when I saw him in the bookshop a few days ago, I found him extremely annoying and made me want to bang my head against the wall.

And then, the door opens and in walks the author himself, Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Bloody hell." I murmur miserably.


	3. I Can Take A Punch

Ch 3  
"And don't forget to read chapter three and all about how I single handedly took down the Brooklyn Werewolf!" He calls out the door as the class reluctantly walks out.  
Me though, I all but sprinted.  
"Probably by annoying it to death." I sigh and some of the boys that had also ran from the class, snickers.  
I smirk, feeling somewhat accomplished.  
I make my way to the common room, getting lost once and having to stalk another Slytherin to find it.  
I set my bag down onto the bed and walk right back out to go the dining hall. Astrid was getting fussy under my robes so I had to let her out soon.  
When I walk through the big oaken doors, I look towards the Gryffindor table.  
Seeing a fan of red hair, I jog over.  
I stop short though when I see that the hair is short and belonging to a boy.  
"Oh," I say. "Sorry, I was looking for Ginny."  
His brows furrow and his lips turn down in a frown.  
"What do you want with my sister, you soul sucking snake?"  
I take a step back in surprise.  
"What?"  
"You heard me; all you Slytherins are good for are putting people down, so why don't you take your wand and shove it up your-"  
"Ron!" An angry voice says, and to my immense relief, Hermione comes storming over, fluffy hair flying behind her.  
"You apologize this instant!" She says pulling me into a protective hug.  
I blink in surprise before relaxing into it.  
She feels warm and everywhere in this castle seems so cold.  
"What for!?" He says. "He's the one coming over here and-"  
"Doing absolutely nothing to you."  
"I'm a girl." I say in annoyance. So many people have mistaken me for a dude so far today that I want to bang my head with a broomstick.  
Right then, Astrid starts struggling in my shirt from smelling the food, and leaps out onto the table.  
"Astrid!" I say lunging forward to catch her, but she goes dashing down the table.  
I sigh, deciding to stay in my position next to Hermione.  
I look up at my friend. "Do you know where Ginny is- she said we would eat lunch together."  
Hermione smiles down at me after removing her glare from Ron.  
"She was right behind me- yes, there she is now."  
Her bright green eyes meet my blue ones and she grins dashing towards us.  
"Oh Ron, this is my friend Alex- we met on the train."  
The boy, who just called me a soul sucking snake, blushes.  
"Oh..." He says. "Listen, sorry for calling you a soul sucking snake; it's just that all the Slytherins have been giving me and Harry a hard time."  
"He called you a what?!" Ginny fumes, glaring at her brother.  
"No, it's okay." I say.  
Ron scratches the back of his neck with a blush.  
"Oh- and there's Harry. Harry!" He waves, relief present on his face, to someone coming up behind me, and I turn.  
A boy comes dashing toward us panting slightly and with wrinkled robes. He has black messy hair and startling green eyes behind thin circular glasses. Just past his hair, I can barely see a thin scar shaped in a lightning bolt.  
So this is the boy who lived.  
"Hullo." He pants. "Who’s this?" He asks.  
"Alex." Ron says still blushing. "She's a girl just so you know."  
I grin slightly and then turn my eyes back to Harry.  
"You're Harry Potter." I say.  
He looks more closely at me and sighs. It seems resigned.  
"Yes."  
"... I'm sorry."  
Harry blinks in surprise. "What for?"  
"Your parents, obviously. My mom was killed just after I was born. I'm sorry."  
He bites his lip. "Thanks. No one has actually said that when they met me."  
I shrug.  
Hermione tugs at my arm.  
"Come on, sit down."  
I sit down next to her with Ginny on my other side.  
She has had a furious blush on her face ever since Harry came over, and I grin now.  
She has a crush on him. Oh I will so tease her for this  
"There you are Astrid." I say picking up my kitten as she comes padding down the table to my plate with some sort of large chunk of meat weighing down her head.  
.....  
"You like him." I say smiling broadly as we walk out of the dining hall.  
"What?" She blushes.  
"You fancy the famous Harry Potter." I nudge her.  
"Do not!" She says turning as red as her hair.  
"You so do, it's all over your face!"  
"Well-" she stammers. "Well, y-you like my brother!" I throw my head back and laugh loudly.  
"And where'd you pull that out of- Snape's ars-?"  
"Alex!" She gasps.  
"What, you’re just fishing and you know it."  
"I have to use the toilet." She says, deciding instead to just ignore me. "Come with me?"  
"Sure. Hey, why do girls never go to the toilets alone?"  
She pauses. "I don't know."  
"Hm." I say following her through the bathroom doors.  
I stop just inside the door when I hear weeping, though, and hesitate.  
"Hello?" Ginny calls and the sniffling stops.  
A head pops through one of the bathroom stalls, and I mean literally pops through- the girl's head passed straight through the door.  
"No boys are allowed in the girls toilets!" She shrieks pointing at me as if I murdered her cat.  
"I'm a girl!" I throw my hands up in frustration and fold my arms.  
The ghost passes straight through the stall door and hovers by the sink.  
"Well how am I supposed to know that, I'm dead now aren't I?" She asks bursting into more tears.  
I shift uncomfortably.  
"Umm... Why are you in the girl’s toilets?"  
I regret asking as soon as it passes my lips, because she wails loudly and dives straight down the pipes in the toilet.  
Water splashes high into the air and floods the tile.  
"Um, maybe we should find another bathroom." Ginny suggests and I'm about to hurriedly agree when I pause.  
A feeling- like the one I got before I found my wand, warms my body. A fuzzy sensation fogs my thoughts and without consciously making the decision, I start walking to the sinks.  
I stop at the middle one and stare down at the small squiggle engraved in the side of the spout.  
"Alex?" Ginny asks.  
I jerk my hand away from where it had reached forward as if I were stung.  
A bad feeling bubbles in my gut and I want nothing more than to get away from this bathroom.  
I turn and hurry to the door, clutching Ginny's hand as I go.  
"Alex? What's wrong, you look pale."  
"Nothing," I say as we finally get back into the hall. "Something just didn't feel right. Like something bad was going to happen."  
She frowns in concern but, not wanting to worry her, I smile.  
"Maybe I have an affinity to divination, eh?"  
She rolls her eyes. "Oh please. If you can see the future, you should be able to walk across the room without something falling on you, being thrown at you, or tripping over open air."  
"All true, my friend, all true."  
She grins.  
"I have charms next, you?"  
"Same." I say with relief. "I just have to get my books, meet you there?"  
"Sure, but I still have to use the toilet."  
I snort. "Kay, see yah."  
I almost run back out of the common room when I see Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle standing there as if waiting for me.  
"What are you, a Slytherin, doing hanging out with a mudblood and Muggle lovers?"  
I plant my feet more firmly as anger wells in my chest.  
Why do people have to be so mean to others, even if they are different? We all have thoughts, we all feel pain- well, those of us with hearts.  
"They're my friends. And don't insult them."  
"And what is your puny little first year self going to do about it if I don't?"  
My fists clench.  
There is nothing I can do about it, I'm too small to win a fight and I don't know any spells...  
But he's talking about my friends like they are the gum on the bottom of his shoe! I have to do something.  
"Mudbloods like that Granger should just-"  
Wham!  
I stare open mouthed as Draco tumbles to the floor clutching his face as he stares up at me in surprise.  
I hit him- I actually hit him.  
But my victory is short lived as Crabbe grabs me by the scruff of the neck and Goyle slams his fist into my stomach.  
Astrid yowls and leaps from my robe, luckily not hit.  
Goyle ignores her as she attacks his leg, and rams me in the stomach again making me gasp in pain.  
Draco stands, sporting a new black eye.  
"You'll pay for that! My father is very powerful and has a lot of influence. He can ruin yours."  
"Heh." I smirk. "I'd like to see him try. He'll soon be running for the hills."  
He sneers at me and walks away with Crabbe and Goyle following behind, shoving each other.  
I slowly pick myself up off the ground and groan in pain. It will pass in a bit, they are still kids after all, and can't do much damage.  
Astrid curls into my neck when I put her on my shoulder and starts to purr.  
I quickly go up to the first years' room and grab my bag, putting all my books for the rest of the day inside.  
Wincing as I twist too much, I pull up my shirt to look at my stomach.  
"Bloody hell." I growl.  
Well, lookie there; I guess they can do a bit of damage.  
A big black and blue circle takes up the space just above my bellybutton.


	4. I meet a diary

Ch 4  
"Sorry I'm late professor." I say entering the class.  
Flitwick frowns deeply at me. "Is there a good reason for it Ms. Taylor?"  
Yes, he knows that I'm a girl! I silently cheer.  
"No sir."  
"Then I'm afraid that I'll have to take five points from Slytherin."  
I smile. Good, I hope we don't win the cup.  
"Thank you." I say and sit down next to Ginny, being mindful of my new bruising.  
"What happened?" She asks and I debate on whether I should tell her or not.  
"I just... ran into some things."  
"Are you okay?"  
I give her a reassuring smile. "Of course. Nothing I can't handle."  
Professor Flitwick starts passing out feathers to the students and I listen carefully to his direction.  
"Remember to swish and flick, swish and flick, and wingdarium leviosa!"  
Feathers fly into the air and follow the movement of his wand.  
"This is the spell Hermione used to lift my trunk." I whisper excitedly to Ginny.  
She giggles and takes out her wand.  
I grin and do the same, slipping it from my boot and my friend raises an eyebrow.  
"S'not my fault I tend to lose things if they're not strapped to my person." I shrug.  
"It kind of is." She says her lips twitching.  
"Wingdarium leviosa." I say, imitating Professor Flitwick.  
Amazingly, the feather trembles.  
"Wingdarium leviosa." I say again, more strongly, and it shoots into the air.  
I start to grin when nails dig into my shoulder and a grey blur flies past my face.  
"Astrid!" I gasp as she pounces on the floating feather and knocking other supplies to the floor.  
Ginny giggles as I try to wrestle the thing away from her.  
"You best let her have that one." Flitwick says walking over, handing me another feather. I swear I see his lips twitch.  
"Very good though with the spell; not many people get it so soon."  
I grin widely.  
.....  
"I've got to show you something." Ginny says excitedly in my ear when we meet up after our last class lets out. We now have free time- if you don't count the mountain of homework that we already have.  
"What is it?" I ask following her out the doors that lead to Hogwarts school grounds.  
She pulls me over to the lake and indicates for me to sit down.  
I do wearily.  
"Look at this." She says pulling from he robes a small black book.  
"A diary?" I ask. "Well you got me there- that really is amazing."  
"No," she says shoving me laughing. "When you write in it, it writes back."  
She pulls a quill from her many pockets and touches it to the first blank page.  
Hello Tom, my friend Alex is here with me.  
She writes in a careful script.  
I watch incredulously as the ink seeps into the paper and disappears.  
Hello Alex, I'm Tom Riddle. It's nice to meet you.  
Tom Riddle? I know that name somewhere...  
"Cool..." I breathe.  
Ginny offers me the feather to right back, but I reach into my own pocket and pull out a pen.  
"What's that?" She asks.  
"It's a muggle quill except you don't ever have to dip it in ink." I say excitedly. "Muggles really are amazing coming up with something like this. They call it a pen."  
Her mouth turns to an O shape as I bring the diary closer to me.  
Hi Tom, I write, where did you come from?  
I wait as the ink sinks into the paper.  
I was once a real person, but I am Tom Riddle's memory infused into his diary.  
I look up at Ginny. "Where did you find this?" I ask pushing it over to her.  
"It was stuck in one of my textbooks by mistake. I just started writing and this happened."  
I close it and hand it to her with a grin. "Nice. He better not steal my spot as your friend."  
She shoves me and stands. "Of course not."  
"Good because I don't think I'll be making any friends in my house and other than Hermione, you're the only one that I know."  
"Come on," she says speeding up. "Dinner's about to start."  
We just walk into the dining hall, food already covering the tables, when she speaks again, slowly.  
"You're not like the other Slytherins." We sit down next to Hermione and she turns to our conversation (the boys where talking about Quidditch).  
"Why are you in their house."  
"The truth?" I ask.  
Ginny nods and Hermione leans closer.  
"The sorting hat wanted to put me in Gryffindor, but I asked to go into Slytherin."  
Hermione blinks dumbly at me. "Why?"  
I bite my lip nervously.  
"My father says that everyone in my family had gone to Hogwarts, starting from when it was first formed, and every single one of them went into Slytherin- except my mom. My dad expected me to get into Slytherin too."  
"That's stupid!" Hermione exclaims. "You're dad shouldn't dictate what house you go into- your personality and your traits, along with what you want, should. You're different from your father."  
I shrug.  
"Let's not analyze every thing I've done wrong shall we? It's in the past and I can't change it, right?"  
I reach out to load some beef onto my plate, using all of my attention to cut into it.  
We eat in silence for a long time, me feeding Astrid every few bites.  
"You said your mom wasn't from Slytherin; was she a witch?"  
I smile wistfully. "She was in Griffendor and my dad said that he fell in love with her when they attended school here, but he had to wait to marry her because she was two years younger that him. He was 24 when I was born and she was killed three days later."  
I bite my lip, and an arm slips around my shoulders. I smile up at Ginny gratefully.  
"It's not like I miss her or anything, I never knew her, but my dad does. I think he changed when she died."  
"Was it Voldemort?" Harry asks and I turn surprised to him. I hadn't realized he had been listening.  
"No, actually. An aurora killed her by mistake. They where chasing after the death eaters and a spell hit her. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."  
He nods, an unreadable expression in his strikingly green eyes.  
"But, again, it's in the past and there's nothing anyone can do to change it. Best not to think about what ifs because that just causes unnecessary pain; there's enough of that in the present."  
"What do you mean?" Hermione asks concernedly.  
"Oh, eh, nothing really- pile of homework I'll have to get through, the sorts." I scratch the back of my neck nervously.  
"So, erm, when does Quidditch practice start for you, Harry?" I ask quickly.  
"I don't know actually. Whenever Wood decides to drag us out onto the field, I suppose."  
"That's cool, Ginny and I have our first flying lesson tomorrow, right Ginny?"  
When she doesn't answer, I turn to look at her only for me to grin.  
She's blushing to the roots.  
Heh.  
.....  
"On three, say ‘up’; ready? One, two, three!"  
"Up!" I call and my broom smacks me in the face.  
Ginny laughs so hard that she almost falls over. The Slytherins scowl at her but she just ignores them.  
I give her a playful glare as I rub the knot on my head.  
"Up!" She says and her broom flies straight into her open hand.  
Show off.  
A few of the brooms fly easily into outstretched hands but most of them do little more than twitch.  
Colin Creevey's does much like mine, and spins toward his face but he has enough sense to duck.  
I growl and try my luck again; this time, it easily shoots up into my hand.  
I smile victoriously at Ginny and she laughs.  
"Right then, now mount your brooms... Good, now on my whistle, kick off hard, lean forward slightly, and then come back down. Ready?" Madam Hooch asks.  
I swallow hard. What if my broom goes haywire? What if it doesn't fly at all and I just fall to the ground?! That would be so embarrassing!  
The whistle blows and I kick off hard. Maybe a little too hard.  
My broom takes me up, up, and up, far higher than I was supposed to go and I tighten my hold as panic seizes my chest.  
"H-hey!" I say squeakily. "M-madam Hooch!" I call.  
I swear from my position fifty feet in the air, I hear her sigh, "There's always one."  
She quickly mounts and flies up to where I had dared not move a muscle, in case something else decided to happen.  
"Come now," she says. "Tilt it down, just slightly- there you are."  
I follow her directions and when I get five feet from the ground I leap off with a sigh.  
I much rather prefer the ground.  
Ginny, I can see, is biting her lip to keep from laughing. The others though, have no qualms in showing their amusement.  
No one seems to care that Colin had fallen off his.  
No more singular incidences happen during the lesson- with me- but by the time class is over, I have grass stains on my knees and butt, and I will have green hands for hours.  
"Come on, it wasn't that bad." Ginny says as we make our way through the school doors.  
"It was awful!" I say indignantly and she giggles.  
"So um," she says blushing. "You want to explore the grounds during free time?"  
"Sure!"  
......  
The grounds are quiet with a few students talking by the lake or doing homework.  
It's still light outside but the sun casts dark shadows from the Forbidden Forest, making it seem even more sinister.  
We walk slowly, memorizing distinctive marks around the school, and I see something odd.  
"What's with the willow, it looks like a mad troll was let loose on it?"  
"You haven't heard? Ron and Harry flew here in a flying car- crashed right into it. They missed the train."  
I laugh. "No way! Why didn't they just call the school?"  
"My brother doesn't think."  
I grin. "What, no blame goes to Harry? Look whose playing favorites."  
"Am not." She mutters with an angry blush.  
"Oh come on, I'm just teasing." I say, nudging her in hopes that she would stop pouting. "Hey what's that?" I ask pointing farther down the hill.  
A hut type house stands stark against the landscape, just out of reach of the Forbidden Forest.  
"That's Hagrid's place; he's the game keeper. Let's go say hello." She pulls me along after her and, as we draw closer, I see the large man that took us across the lake in the garden behind the hut.  
Large pumpkins that could rival his size stand along the edge of a small fence.  
He has a pink umbrella in his hand.  
"Hello Hagrid!" Ginny says as we get close enough.  
He turns to us and his beard moves in a way that I think is a smile.  
"Hello there. Le's see, you must be a Weasley with tha' red hair. Ron's sister Ginny, right? He, Harry, and Hermione have'n come ter see me yet- good kids they are."  
I start to grin but I have to bite my lip.  
So Hagrid's friends with Harry; I know why she wanted to explore the grounds now, that sneak.  
I don't say anything though, not wanting to upset her again.  
"And who is this?" He looks down at me.  
He really is big, I realize. I bet a blow from him could kill you.  
Stop it, I chide myself, you don't judge people until you get to know them.  
"I'm Alex." I say shifting nervously.  
"Well it's nice ter meet yah Alex; how do'ya like my pumpkins?"  
"There um, very large."  
He smiles proudly. "They are are'n they?"  
"You've done really well with them." Ginny says.  
Hagrid seems to puff up even more in pride.  
"What are you lot doin' out here anyhow?"  
"Oh just... Looking around the grounds." She blushes.  
I snort but quickly cover it with a cough.  
"Well you two best be gettin' along, it's almos' time for dinner."  
"Yup- yes, we should do that." I say turning to my friend with a smile forcing its way to my face. "Shall we?"  
She shoves me, making me stagger and trip over a giant hoe.  
"Bloody hell!"  
She laughs, racing up the hill away from me.


	5. Here, have some slugs for breakfast- or not

Ch 5  
It's few days later when I wake up to a silent dorm room.  
Nothing seems wrong or out of place, but it's still early and I can't understand what woke me.  
I look to my side to see Astrid sleeping peacefully on my pillow.  
The room is dark as I sit up, like it is any other time of day, and the chill makes me clutch my muggle shirt closer to me.  
I rise from the four-poster and silently try to dress in the dark, not even bothering to get a tie. It's too early to be choked by clothing.  
Then I sneak my way down to the common room to see a white head disappearing out the door.  
What's he doing up so early? A yawn forces past my lips as I rub the sleep from my eyes.  
It's way too early for me to be stalking fellow house members...  
Sighing, I follow out the door a good few paces behind.  
The footsteps, I soon realize, are more than just his so he must be in a group.  
They walk up the dungeon steps and past the entrance hall. I fall farther back as we go out the doors of the school and into the grey morning light.  
It's later than I realized, but still earlier than I would willingly get up.  
In the new light, I can see seven people in Quidditch robes and carrying shiny new brooms.  
I look farther along the field to see other brooms already flying around the structure of the stands.  
They're crashing Gryffindor practice time!  
I scowl and dash behind the towering stands to watch in secret.  
There's Hermione, Ron and Harry! And... Colin Creevey? What's he doing here?  
I'm too far away to hear the words exchanged but the Slytherin team look far too pleased for anything good to come to Gryffindor.  
Hermione and Ron start crossing the field.  
Words are exchanged and then I can hear clearly, "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood!"  
My face flushes with anger and I step out of my hiding to start marching over.  
"How dare you!" One of the girls shrieks while being held back by the Weasley twins.  
"You'll pay for that one Malfoy!" Ron says furiously, pointing his want under Flint's arm.  
A loud bang resonates around the stadium and a jet of green light shoots out of the back of the wand, slamming him in the chest.  
I move faster toward the group.  
"Ron! Ron! Are you okay?" Hermione squeals.  
He belches and several slugs dribble from his mouth and into his lap.  
The Slytherin team shakes in silent, gasping laughter.  
I kneel next to me best friend's brother worriedly as the slimy, gross slugs fall out of his mouth.  
"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, his hut is nearest." I say ducking under his arm to try to support him.  
He's heavy and I sag, struggling under the weight until it's lifted off me.  
Harry is on the other side, supporting him much more easily.  
"What happened, Harry? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin says running down from the bleachers with a camera clutched tightly in his hands.  
Ron burps up more slugs that fall to the grass with a nasty splat.  
"Oooh, can you hold him still, Harry?" He asks fascinated and raises his camera. Anger rises in me but before I can say anything, Harry growls angrily.  
"Get out of the way, Colin!"  
We carry him out of the stadium and I grimace every time he belches and more slugs dribble down his front.  
Hermione frets hovering just out of the line of fire. "Nearly there, Ron." She kept worrying.  
We're within twenty feet of the house when the front door swings open and Gilderoy Lockhart comes striding out in palest mauve robes.  
Harry hisses and drags us behind a nearby bush.  
Why is it that whenever someone needs to hide, something just appears? I wonder absentmindedly.  
"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" He says loudly to Hagrid, making me snort and miss the rest of his bigheaded speech.  
We wait until Lockhart is out of sight before dragging Ron out of the bush and up to the front door, knocking urgently.  
The door swings open to show Hagrid at once, looking very annoyed until he sees whom it is.  
"Bin wonderin' when you'd come ter see me- come in, come in- thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again- hello again Alex."  
Harry and I drag Ron through the threshold of the one-roomed cabin with a blazing fire, and Harry hastily explains Ron's slug problem.  
Hagrid seems unperturbed by it as he plucks a large basin in front of the gagging boy.  
"Better out than in. Get 'em all up, Ron."  
"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for them to stop." Hermione says anxiously. She starts muttering to her self and I feel very awkward.  
I know Hermione just fine but Harry and Ron are just some older kids that I sit next to at lunch. And Hagrid, I just met a few days ago.  
"But with a broken wand-" Hermione was saying.  
Hagrid was lumbering around with pots and filling them with water as a large boarhound slobbers all over Harry.  
"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Harry asks, lifting a hand covered in clear slime that makes me gag.  
"Givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a wall," he growls, moving a very dead rooter from his table and setting down a teapot. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."  
Harry had a look of understanding, but Hermione says, in a voice somewhat higher than usual, "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job-"  
Forgetting my discomfort, I start cracking up.  
"No way, you have a crush on him!" I say with tears squeezing out of my eyes.  
She flushes bright red as Hagrid smiles warmly down at me.  
Ron chokes on a laugh, and then groans as more slugs slide out of his mouth and into the basin.  
"All the girls do!" She says indignantly.  
"I think he's a great big idiot." I say fighting off a grin.  
"Yeah, well, you're not the typical girl are you- not even able to walk through a room without tripping."  
"I think it's more of a matter of taste. Anyway, I decided that I would never have a crush."  
"Just wait until you get older." Hermione sniffs.  
"You're only a year older that me!" I laugh as she huffs.  
Hagrid, smiling now, continues on about Lockhart. "He was the on'y man for the job." Hagrid offers a plate of treacle toffee to us but Harry and Hermione hastily turn it down. Ron coughs up more squelchy slugs.  
I take the offering happily and almost break my teeth.  
I inconspicuously spit it into one of my robe pockets when he turns his back.  
"An' I mean the on'y one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't to keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' ter think it's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," Hagrid say, jerking his head at Ron. "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"  
"Malfoy called Hermione something- it must've been really bad, because everyone went wild."  
"Is was bad." Says Ron, looking pale and sweaty. "Malfoy called her 'Mudblood,' Hagrid-" he bends back over as more glistening slugs make their appearance.  
Hagrid looked outraged. "He didn'!" He growled at Hermione.  
"He did." She nods. "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course-"  
"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of." I sigh. "Mudblood is a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born- you know, non-magic parents. And he's been throwing the name around the common room like it means nothing." I scowl. "If only I were bigger, I could do something to make him stop-"  
"It's a disgusting thing to call someone." Ron says. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous." He retches, ducking back out of sight.  
"Harry," Hagrid says abruptly, eyes shining mischievously. "Gotta bone to pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"  
A laugh bubbles in my throat but I shove it down.  
"Oooh, can I get one?" I ask grinning as he flushes furiously.  
I glance out the window as Harry goes on to denying everything. It's already light outside and I'd bet breakfast is in full swing by now.  
"He guys, I was supposed to meet Ginny for breakfast, I'll see you later, okay?"  
Ron gives a thumbs up as he bends over his bucket again.  
I exit the hut and sprint up the hill to the dining hall.  
......  
I'm woken again before I should be, though it has to be hours before sunrise. The reason for my awakening is obvious as a voice of icy-venom whispers.  
It's so faint and eerie that it could be but a bad dream. But the voice sends a shudder all the way down my body.  
"Come...come to me.... Let me rip you.... Let me tear you.... Let me kill you...."  
And then it is gone, slipping away and leaving the silence as it was.  
.......  
October came with sheets of pelting rain and a chill that spreads to every nook in the castle.  
Several students had come down with head colds and Madam Pomfrey spent much of her day giving out Pepperup Potion to the staff and students. Though it worked instantly, it left the taker smoking out the ears  
Ginny looked like her whole head was on fire, and I had teased her mercilessly when her brother, Percy, bullied her into taking some.  
Secretly, I was happy that he did, because she had been looking pale lately.  
The Halloween Feast arrived quickly and I was left in awe as I filed into the Great Hall with the rest of my house.  
Live bats swooped down from the hauntingly eerie ceiling, often making me duck; Hagrid's giant pumpkins stand tall and carved in the corners and skeletons danced across the floor.  
I excitedly look for Ginny but frown when I don't spot her head of fiery red hair. All the other Gryffindors are there excluding Harry, Ron, and Hermione. I wander briefly what they are up to, and sit at the Slytherin table, more glum than I was when I first walked in.  
The other first years look at me strangely, but I ignore the as I pick at my food.  
Astrid stands on the table beside me, eating from her own plate that I had stacked high for her.  
If she continues eating like she has been, she'll be one fat cat.  
I absently pick at my food, half watching the dancing skeletons, half watching the door for my friends.  
They never come and, quicker than I had liked, the feast ends.  
I frown in disappointment as everyone stands to leave the Great Hall.  
I follow the crowd as they stream happily out the door, and up stairs and corridors.  
But then everything stops. The thumping of feet, the happy chatter of well-fed people…  
Everything is silent.  
Then, "Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"  
Draco calls, pushing forward to the front of the crowd.  
I'm too small to see anything, but it's easy to slip past people and to the front where I see Harry, Hermione, and Ron standing stark still with wide eyes, in a puddle.  
Written on the wall in red are the words, THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.  
And hanging from the torch by the tail below it, is Filch's annoying cat, Mrs. Norris, stiff as a board.  
Draco was grinning widely at the sight of the caretaker's immobile cat.  
"What's going on here? What's going on?" Argus Filch shouts, shouldering his way through the crowd.  
Then he sees Mrs. Norris and falls back, clutching his face in horror.  
"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" He shrieks and his pooping eyes fall on Harry.   
"You!" He screeches. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"  
"Argus!" Dumbledore arrives, breezing through the students with an army of teachers.  
In seconds, he sweeps past the three stunned second years and detaches the still cat from the torch bracket.  
"Come with me, Argus," he says to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger."  
Lockhart steps forward eagerly.   
"My office is nearest, Headmaster- just upstairs-"  
I turn, pushing back through the crowd to get away from the mass and furious talk of the students.  
I have to find Ginny.  
I walk through the deserted corridors, searching for any sign of her and ignoring the fact that she probably stayed in the Gryffindor common room during the feast, and was there now. I turn around some where on the third floor, halfway between the astronomy tower and the owlrey, but stop.  
Ginny is standing there wide eyed and terrified with red smeared on her hands and down her front. Her robes are damp and dripping in the back.  
At first I think the red is blood, but after I run forward and find no wounds, I step back.  
"Alex, I-" she sniffs. "I think I killed Filch's cat."  
I swallow hard.  
"Bloody hell..."


	6. I hate snakes...

Ch 6  
I look around the dark hall, silent and ominous.  
If she's seen here like this, even by a ghost... This is bad.  
I grab her hand and drag her down the hall; I had been doing some exploring in my free time, and it's paying off now.  
I pull her through secret passages that I had happened to stumble upon, and up many fights of stairs, doubling back when one of them had moved.  
Filch will be roaming the halls by now, searching for the real person who killed his cat, and if he finds Ginny like this....  
Up and up, I pull her as she follows and stumbles.  
It can't be true- Ginny would never do it. She loves cats and she absolutely adores Astrid.  
Finally we reach the seventh floor to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.  
The contents are missing, probably gossiping with the other paintings. So I release her hand and pace the passage three times.  
Someplace safe, someplace safe, someplace safe, I think, and the wall ripples forming a large door.  
I pull her inside and close it.  
The room is smallish, fitting a bed and a wardrobe with a few square feet of floor.  
I always feel safe in small, warm spaces, and this room doesn't have the normal chill as the rest of the castle.  
I sit her down on the bed, letting Astrid out of my robes. She curls up on a pillow and falls asleep.  
"Okay Ginny, now tell me everything."  
"I was getting ready for the Halloween Feast- everyone was, and I was the last one out of the tower. Then everything goes black and I wake up lying under the Mrs. Norris. I didn't know what to do, so I ran."  
"Okay," I say pacing the small length of the floor. "Maybe- maybe someone dosed you with Sleeping Drought and staged you so you would think you did it!"  
"But it's not just then! I've blacked out a few other times and woken up in a completely different place. One time I was covered in feathers! I did this!"  
"No!" I say. "I refuse to believe it and until we figure out what's really going on, you can't tell anyone. Not Harry, not Hermione, and not your brothers, okay?"  
She swallows, twisting her fingers into her messed up robes. She nods.  
"Good. Now come on and lets get you out of those clothes." I say reaching into the wardrobe.  
It's already stacked with clean muggle pajamas and I pull one out, laying it out on the bed, before helping her wriggle out of them without smearing red on anything else.  
"It's not blood." I say sniffing it. "Smells like paint."  
She changes without comment.  
"... We'll figure this out, I promise..."  
"Can we stay here tonight? I don't want to go back to the common room."  
"Sure." I say pulling out my wand. "Let me just clean your hands."  
She holds them out, still glistening with wet paint, and I do a simple cleaning spell that I had been practicing.  
She crawls under the covers and, after hesitating a few moments, I crawl in beside her- Astrid purrs between us and the light illuminating the room is extinguished.  
"What is this place anyway?"  
I snort. "It's called the Room of Requirements. You have to walk back and forth three times thinking about what you need and it will appear. I found it when I accidentally jinxed a suit of armor to start trying to kill me."  
She giggles in the dark and I smile softly.  
There is no way that she is responsible for this- someone is trying to frame her.  
........  
For the next few days, rumors fly around about the Chamber of Secrets, saying how Salazar Slytherin made a secret room somewhere in the castle that his heir will one day open and let loose a horrible monster to purge the school of non-magical originated wizards.  
They are also saying that Harry is that heir, which is just ludicrous.  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione though, I notice, are sneaking around and trying to figure things out.  
Then, the first Quidditch match arrives and my house is humming with excitement and smugness.  
The day is muggy and thunder rumbles in the distance.  
I make my way out onto the field with the other spectators and find a seat between Hermione and Ginny. Ron is already on his feet in anticipation.  
The crowd quiets when both teams walk out onto the field.  
"On my whistle," Madam Hooch says. "Three...two...one..." The crowd screams so loud that I have to clamp my hands over my ears and I completely miss the takeoff.  
"I want to root for Gryffindor, but I don't want to seem like a traitor to Slytherin." I call over the shouts to Ginny.  
She shrugs, her eyes solely watching the Boy-Who-Lived and my snicker is lost in the cheers.  
Then something starts to happen that makes me grow pale.  
The Bludger keeps going back at Harry- it was tampered with.  
I stand slowly.  
Slytherin couldn't have done it, right? I mean, the definitely would if they had the chance, but they couldn't have gotten the chance; all the game balls are locked away...  
He swoops and dodges the best he can, but it just keeps going at them.  
For some reason the Beaters just leave him alone.  
"He's going to get himself killed..." I mutter, Ginny and Hermione each holding one of my arms tightly. "And because of him, I'm going to lose circulation. Brilliant."  
Then a Bludger slams into Harry and he slides sideways on his broom.  
The grips on my arms tighten to vices.  
He rights himself, but his one arm dangles uselessly at his side.  
My teeth clench as the Bludger comes back around, but Harry dives.  
Straight at Malfoy.  
Good, I hope he runs him down.  
But he lifts his good arm from the broom and snatches something gold right out of the air.  
He got it! That was the Snitch!  
Then he hits the ground hard with a splattering thud, not getting up.  
"Harry!" Ginny gasps, squeezing my arm to the point of pain and I have to focus hard on not flinching away- there's already a bruise there.  
A crowd gathers around him, pouring from the stands.  
Lockhart seems to be the the center of it all and I know that things won't go well when he raises his wand.  
I don't know whether to laugh at the boy, or cry for him as Hermione and Ron help him up.  
His arm is like rubber flopping at his side.  
I cover Ginny's eyes as she tries to get a look. She'll just worry even more.  
When we finally get back into the school and over to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey is kicking everyone out and not letting anyone else in.  
The next day, word gets around to me saying that Colin Creevey was petrified last night on his way to see Harry. Things are not looking very good for him, or Ginny as she looks even more pale than usual.  
"I can't remember going back to the dormitory, but I woke up in bed."  
She whispers urgently to me at breakfast.  
"It's not you." I insist. "Someone is just trying really hard to make it seem like it."  
"Why me though? What have I got to do with it?"  
I'm unable to answer as Harry sits down across from us rubbing his temples.  
......  
A week later a small swarm of students draws my attention to the notice board hanging in the Great Hall.  
I spot our older friends crowded around as well and step forward.  
"What's going on?" I ask.  
Harry grins excitedly.  
"A Dueling Club is being started tonight. I think first years can come too."  
"Brilliant! I've been learning a few curses that I've been dying to try out on Malfoy and this way, I don't get into trouble."  
Ron tilts his head as we start heading to dinner together.  
"Aren't all Slytherins supposed to be buddy buddy with him?"  
"He's just a giant bully that deserves to be taken down a few pegs."  
Ron grins. "I don't know if I've told you this, but I think you're the first Slytherin that I actually like."  
"Hey, I liked her first." Says Ginny throwing her arm over my somewhat shorter shoulder. "She's my Slytherin."  
I blush slightly and laugh.  
Hermione smiles at me.  
"We actually have a theory that Malfoy is the one opening the Chamber of Secrets." Harry says sitting at the table.  
"Draco Malfoy? No way; it's not him. He wouldn't be able to shut up about it in the common room- he'd have to brag."  
Harry shrugs. "It's got to be him- he's the one who hates Muggle-borns the most."  
I shake my head. "I'm telling you, it's not him." My eyes dart to Ginny for a split second without meaning to. Her head is bowed and looking at her hands. "But hey, what do I know, right? It's not like he would tell me of all people."  
Harry hums as the food appears on the tables.  
At eight o'clock, I return to the dining hall to gape at the change.  
The long tables had vanished and a golden stage has appeared along one wall. A thousand candles are lit and floating through the air, illuminating most of the kids in the school, wands out and at their sides.  
I spot Ginny in the far corner and go over to her just as Gilderoy Lockhart comes strutting out onto the stage with Snape most glumly behind him.  
I briefly consider making a run for the door but that would just draw attention to myself and that's the last thing that I want from the prick.  
"Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"  
I sigh annoyedly, already wishing to take a dive off the astronomy tower, and stuff my fingers in my ears in an attempt to muffle the noise.  
He gestures wildly and seems to introduce Snape; the potions teacher looks less thrilled to be here than me and he has a face like he is about to slip a poison into Lockhart's soup.  
I unplug my ears as they get ready to duel.  
"-Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."  
"It looks like Snape is seriously thinking about it." I whisper to Ginny. Her lip twitches.  
"One-two-three-"  
Both of them swing their wands and I lean forward expectantly.  
"Expelliarmus!" Snape cries and a dazzling flash of scarlet light blasts Lockhart off his feet.  
I grin as he slams into the wall and falls to the floor. I find myself cheering along with the other Slytherins, not for Snape's victory, but for Lockhart's defeat.  
I stop quickly, realizing my unintended cruel thoughts.  
He comes teetering back onto stage.  
"Well there you have it! That was the Disarming Charm- as you see, I've lost my wand- ah, thank you Miss. Brown- yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been too easy- however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see..."  
Snape looks like he is considering using a much stronger spell next time, and even though I find him not very fair, I was agreeing with him.  
Lockhart is just so full of himself and can't stand looking bad.  
Lockhart seems to notice because he decides to start pairing us up.  
I feel almost disappointed when Snape pairs Harry with Malfoy, I really did have some curses that I wanted to try on him.  
Instead, I'm paired with Ginny and I'm hesitant.  
"Wands at the ready!" Lockhart shouts. "When I count to three, cast your charms to Disarm your opponents- only to disarm them- we don't want any accidents- one...two...three-"  
I swing my wand at my friend, giggling as she's hit with a light tickling charm.  
Then she points her wand at me and I start to laugh as well, falling to the ground holding my stomach.  
I gasp as much as I can between laughter.  
"Alright, alright- I give up!” I gasp and the tickling stops.  
I sit up still gasping and giggling.  
I'm glad that I didn't bring Astrid, because if I did, she would have been squished under me from all my rolling around.  
She holds out her hand for me and I take it easily. My stomach is sore from laughing.  
I wipe the tears from my eyes grinning.  
"Good game," I say. "Though you stole my move."  
"Yeah, well, I know that you're more ticklish than me and you'd break first."  
"Ah," I say.  
Something else had happened during our duel, and I now turn to watch Draco and Harry glaring at each other. A girl has a bloody nose, and Ron is apologizing profusely to Seamus Finnegan.   
"I think I better teach you how to block unfriendly spells." Lockhart says, standing flustered in the midst of the hall.  
After some debate, Snape volunteers Harry and Malfoy.  
"Now, Harry," Lockhart says. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this." He raises his wand wiggles it very oddly, and ends up dropping it.  
He quickly picks it up. "Whoops- my wand is a little overexcited-"  
I watch as Professor Snape moves closer to the snowy-haired boy, whispering something in his ear.  
"Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?" Harry asks Lockhart nervously.  
"Just do what I did, Harry!" He cheerfully cuffs him on the shoulder.  
"What, drop my wand?"  
I snort loudly, getting a few glares from nearby girls.  
"Three-two-one-go!"  
"Serpensortia!" Malfoy bellows quickly before much could happen.  
The end of his wand explodes and a long, black snake falls heavily to the floor between them.  
Ginny gasps as it raises itself, ready to strike, and the crowd backs away in a panic.  
"Don't move, Potter." Snape says lazily.  
"Allow me!" Lockhart shouts, brandishing his wand. There is a loud bang, sending the snake ten feet into the air and smack back down hard.  
Enraged and hissing furiously, it slithers straight at Justin Finch-Fletchley.  
I bares its fangs, poised to strike, and something makes me start moving toward it- but Harry was already striding toward it and shouting.  
"Leave him alone!"  
Miraculously, the snake slumps the floor, eyes regarding Harry.  
Both of us look to Justin for a reaction, but for some reason, he was angry.  
"What do you think you're playing at?" He shouts and storms out of the hall before Harry can say anything.  
Muttering starts rippling through the students, but I don't understand.  
Ron pulls him out of the hall, followed closely by Hermione.  
Ginny appears at my side again, eyes wide and grips my forearm tightly.  
"Harry's a Parselmouth!"  
No, that can be right, I understood him.  
And I don't talk to snakes! Granted, I never really came into contact with one before now, but I would know!  
I swallow.  
"It doesn't mean anything." I tell her. "You know that he has nothing to do with the Chamber."  
"Yes, but everyone else will think it for sure now. It's what Salazar Slytherin was famous for."  
"I know all about Slytherin." I snap accidentally, backtracking quickly when she looks up at me in surprise.  
I sigh. "When my father does talk about Hogwarts, it's all about Salazar Slytherin and how he had the right idea of what I wizard should be. It gets frustrating."  
"Anyway," I say. "Sure it's rare, but it doesn't mean that only one family line can have it."  
"I don't think that he's Slytherin's heir, but they do."  
I shrug as we follow the slower students through the halls.  
"I'll see you tomorrow." I say as we come to the split off point.  
"Yeah, see you."  
When I'm finally alone, walking down to the Slytherin dorms, I breath out harshly.  
"Bloody hell." I curse.  
I'm a Parselmouth.


	7. I'm not hearing things- I'm not!

Ch 7

The next morning is a blizzard and I wake up shivering in my fluffy pajamas.

I change quickly, putting on my warmest robes and ascend thee stairs from the dungeons with a lucky Astrid curled up warmly in my shirt.

The dining hall is less crowded than usual due to a few classes being canceled, and the lucky pricks get to sleep in- including Harry, Ron and Hermione.

But to my confusion, Ginny is not at the table like usual, so I begrudgingly sit down with my house that I know almost none of the names of. It's kind of ironic that I know pretty much all the Gryffindors'.

There is a fluttering of wings as the owl post comes flying into the great hall. I'm surprised through, when a brown speckled barn owl lands in my eggs, carrying a note addressed to me.

I hadn't ever gotten a letter aside from the acceptance one months ago.

I unfold the parchment curiously to find one word scrawled shakily across it.

Help

I stand suddenly from my chair, snatching up my indulging kitten, and rush out of the Great Hall to the seventh floor.

I pace the floor three times and barge through the door as soon as it shimmers into existence.

There she stands, covered in colorful feathers and about ready to cry.

"It happened again." She says brushing a few off. "I remember going to bed, but I woke up by the lake. I sent you an owl and came straight up here."

"Um," I say tossing Astrid into the bed and start dusting her off. "This doesn't mean anything, they're just feathers, completely innocent." My voice is higher than normal.

"Alex... What's happening to me?"

My chest aches at her helplessness.

"I don't know but just know that whatever happens, I'm on your side. I won't let anything happen to you." I tell her honestly.

"Why? You've only known me for a few months."

I shrug. "You're the first friend I've ever had."

She smiles slightly and I feel like this would be one of those 'awe!' moments I always saw in those muggle television shows.

She hugs me and I stand stunned, uncertain of what to do. I have never been hugged by my dad so the action is foreign. I slowly loop my arms around her waist, unsure if I was placing my hands right.

"You do know we are currently missing first bell?" I say pulling back awkwardly.

She shrugs. "That's okay, I'm supposed to be in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

I grin, glad that at least one other girl isn't fawning all over him.

"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!" The faint yell reaches us and I spin around, jerk the door open, and rush down the steps with Ginny on my heels until we reach the large mass of students and teaches all gathered in a fit up uproar.

Peeves the poltergeist floats happily over everyone's heads singing gleefully,

"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, you're killing off students, you think it's good fun-"

"That's enough, Peeves!" Professor McGonagall barks.

I push my way forward until the space in front of me opens up and I see Harry standing there, with Justin Finch-Fletchley at his feet and a black, smoky, Nearly-Headless Nick, the Griffendor ghost, floating slightly beside him.

This is really not looking good for Harry.

I watched, gaping, as Justin and Nearly Headless Nick were taken away to the hospital wing.

"This way, Potter." McGonagall says.

"Professor," Harry says quickly and panicky, "I swear I didn't-"

"This is out of my hands, Potter." She says shortly and leads him away.

Through the muttering and chaos that goes on long after they disappear, I meet Ginny's wide green eyes.

...

After the double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, there was a rush to book seats on the Hogwarts Express for Christmas, even from the Slytherins who were all pureblood.

I would have the whole first year dorm to myself over break and I was dreading being alone, even if there wouldn't be much changed in the social aspect of things.

I do feel bad for Harry though, having to deal with all the skirting around the halls, the hissing and jeering, but I couldn't help but snort that one time Fred and George were with him and announcing it to the world that he was going to tea with his fanged servant in the Chamber of Secrets.

Christmas morning has me waking up to a cold, empty, and dark room and the familiar feeling of loneliness grips my chest.

I sigh and slip out of bed, nearly having a heart attach when something falls off the bed to the stone floor.

I hurriedly light the torches in the room with my wand to see wrapped parcels had fallen the ground.

I had gotten Christmas presents.

I grin and jump back into the bed, startling Astrid in the process, with the fallen gifts clutched in my arms.

The first one is from Hagrid; he had gotten me a container of truffles and, remembering the last time I tried to bite into one, I make a mentally note to soften it in the fire before eating any.

Ron, Harry, and Hermione had all gotten me gifts as well. From Harry a box of chocolate frogs, from Ron a new wizard chess set, and Hermione got me a book of pranking curses.

Even Ginny got me something and I grin in excitement at seeing what it is- a bunch of muggle toys and candies.

She had guessed my fascination with muggle things.

I pick Astrid up and hold her in front of my face smiling broadly.

"I have friends, Astrid. Real friends."

She yawns in response so I leave her curled up in the bed as I race down to the banquet hall in my fluffy socks and sleep clothes.

I have no classes so I have no need to be in my wizarding robes.

When I see my small group of friends, I fling myself into them without thinking, smiling brightly.

"Thank you!" I say and they laugh at me. "I didn't think you guys would get me anything!"

"Of course." Hermione says as I release her last. "And thank you so much for that Wizarding Real Species and Not Folklore book; I wasn't sure if some of the monsters I heard about were real."

"I wasn't sure if you didn't already know all that stuff so I wasn't certain you would like it." I say blushing.

"I love it." She says reassuringly.

Just then Ginny walks it to breakfast and I hug her to.

"Thank you!" I say.

"You're welcome." She giggles trying to stay standing under my weight. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." I say and follow her back over to the table.

We eat in peace and I easily ignore Malfoy's glares from the Slytherin table.

By now, the teachers have grown used to me not eating at my house table and they don't even glance at me oddly anymore, but Snape does scowl at my clothing choice.

Christmas dinner blurs by in a furry of excitement and joy in my chest and all too soon, it's over.

"I've got to go thank Hagrid for the truffles." I say standing up when I see him stumble out the door after the feast."

"Okay." Ginny says smiles at me with a new sparkle in her eye.

The others give distracted goodbyes as they snicker at Percy's 'Pinhead' badge.

I walk out the great oak doors and rush down the snowed path, soaking my socks through in the first two steps.

Hagrid is already halfway to the lake when I stupidly go out in the cold.

"Hagrid!" I call charging forward, doing my best to ignore the numbing chill in my toes. "Hagrid!"

He turns and watches as I struggle forward.

"Wha' are ye doin out here in the snow?" He says when I get close enough.

"I wanted to say thank you for my gift." I pant shaking terribly from the cold.

"Well ye said it, now get back inside b'fore you catch somethin'."

He herds be back toward the castle, smiling, and waits until I get through the doors before he waves and once again departs.

I wander the halls in my dripping socks, shivering from head to toe, not wanting to head back to the Slytherin common room just yet.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle are the only ones that stayed over Christmas and they are surly sitting around the fire right now, talking about all the people they've bullied today.

But when I grow board of looking at the celebrating pictures and I am shivering so badly that I miss a step, I figure it would be best for me to change into something warm.

My descending steps into the dungeon echo around the walls and I soon arrive at the hidden door.

"Pure-blood." I sigh and it springs open.

"-of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them is killed this time... I hope it's Granger." A familiar voice says in relish.

"You pompous freak." I hiss angrily, fists clenching.

The sound of shifting chairs and Malfoy stands from the fire along with Crabbe and Goyle looking stupid faced as ever.

I stalk forward, ignoring how much bigger he is than me, as I always do.

"You're despicable! The worst kind of thing that can still call themselves human can be! Hermione is a ten times better wizard than you'll ever be-!"

Pain sprouts from my nose and blood gushes into my mouth.

I cough it onto the green and silver rug and look up into the tree furious faces above me. But for some reason Crabbe and Goyle are looking at Draco.

"Careful blonde, you'll leave a visible mark and everyone will know that you've been beating up a little, first year, girl. You would lose the little respect that you have."

His face twists in fury and his foot snaps out to kick me hard in the stomach.

The air leaves me gasping and unwilling tears sting behind my eyes.

When I get enough breath back, I stager to my feet, fixing a watery glare on the taller boys.

"Well, come on then, you too! Nothing's stopped you before!" I shout at them.

Weird expressions cloud their face as they just stare at me.

"You're just a little brat that gets in the way of where I walk." Malfoy spits, shoving his foot into my stomach and repeatedly kicking me when I fall. "You should have never become a Slytherin."

"Is that… the best... you got?" I gasp.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Malfoy asks his too friends, who are angrily clenching their fists.

"Stomach ache." Crabbe grunts. "I'm going to go get medicine." He says as something strange happens.

It might just be my blurry eyes but it almost looks like his hair is turning red.

They both turn and walk out through the wall door.

Malfoy rolls his eyes. "They are so strange." He says, ignoring me as he walks past to sit back in front of the fire.

I pull myself to my feet with much struggling and slouch off to my empty room.

I curl up on my bed cursing myself for urging the Malfoy boy on as I clutch my aching ribs. Astrid pads over and curls up comfortingly under my chin.

I sigh as I slip into an uneasy sleep, forgetting all about changing out of my wet and cold clothes.

...

At breakfast, Harry and Ron stalk right up to me and ask what happened to my face. My nose hadn't been broken, but I have two good black eyes.

I smile wearily because they seem to know somehow, but I hadn't told them what those three do when no one is around, and Malfoy would never admit to beating up a first year girl.

"I tripped on the way down the stairs." I say taking a seat next to Ginny who looks at me with wide eyes and starts lightly touching my face to make sure nothing is broken.

"Fell down two flights."

They purse their lips and Ron looks like he's going to say something but Harry elbows him in the ribs.

"You have to be more careful." Ginny frets. "You're going to end up tripping off a cliff one day." She sighs and I smile sheepishly.

"Hey, where's Hermione?" I ask looking up and down the table.

"She's in the hospital wing." Ron says grinning and I frown in concern.

"Is she alright?" I say, my mind immediately jumping to the Chamber, but judging from his not so well concealed snickers, it's nothing near that bad.

"Oh she's fine but she won't want anyone seeing her for a while."

...

My curiosity peeks the more days that pass that Hermione is in the hospital and several rumors fly around that her disappearance is due to another attack once students start arriving back to school.

I got so impatient waiting to hear what was wrong, that one day during break, I just sneak right in.

I gasp when I pull back the curtain to see Hermione sitting there looking over a few books.

"Alex!" She says covering her face but that does little.

"What did you do, try to transfigure yourself into a cat?" I say pulling her hands away to reveal yellow eyes.

"That is none of your concern." She huffs crossing her arms. "How did you get in here?"

"I snuck in." I shrug.

"Alex, you can't just go around breaking ru- you know what, never mind that," she says changing direction completely. "How are you?" She asks with real concern dripping from her harry face as if she knows something.

"I'm fine." I say. "Haven't fallen out any windows or come across Slytherin's heir's monster if that's what you're asking."

She smiles slightly. "That's always a plus I suppose." She says.

"I-"

"What are you doing in here?" Madam Pomfrey asks sharply and I whip around to face her. "You're not supposed to be here; out, out!" She shoos me and slams the door once I'm in the other side.

I sigh and walk back to the common room.

...

Hermione is let out of the hospital, de-cat-ified, in the beginning of February. And on the fourteenth, Lockhart has done something horrific.

The walls of the great hall are covered with large, lurid pink flowers and hearts-shaped confetti falls from the pale blue ceiling.

Somehow, Hermione sits giggling as both Ron and Harry look like someone put Bubotuber pus in their drinks.

My face forms into one of disgust as I see a dozen surly-looking dwarfs march into the great hall wearing diapers, golden wings, and carrying little harps.

"They will be roving around the school today delivering your valentines!" He goes on to explain.

I almost smile though when he suggest asking Snape to show us how to whip up a Love Potion. Snape looks like the first person that asks him for a Love Potion would be force-fed poison.

I found myself actually enjoying the day some, watching the little cupids run around delivering things and embarrassing people.

I even sent one particularly embarrassing musical message to Fred and George in revenge for giving me a piece of candy that made my voice turn into a chipmunk's.

Lesson learned; don't eat food given to you by tall annoying faced redheads.

Sadly, I didn't get to see the show.

I do get to see, however, as a grim-looking dwarf shoulders through the crowd to Harry.

"I've got a musical message to deliver to 'Arry Potter in person." He says twinning his harp in a threatening sort of way.

"Oh, you didn't." I whisper to Ginny who is blushing beside me.

"Not here." Harry hisses trying to get away.

I watch in half amusement, half horror, as the dwarf grabs onto him, ripping his bag in the proses, and they shuffle around until the Cupid sits down on Harry's ankles.

His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,

His hair is as dark as a blackboard.

I wish he was mine, he's really divine,

The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.

I felt bad for my friend I really did, for both Ginny and Harry, as Percy started shooing some of the onlookers away.

My attention is drawn to Malfoy as he stoops down and snatches something up.

"Give that back," Harry says quietly.

"Wonder what Potter's written in this?" Malfoy say holding up a familiar black diary.

"Isn't that...?" I turn I look at Ginny and she's pale and staring at it in horror. "Ginny?"

Why would Harry have Tom Riddles diary; did she give it to him?

"Hand it over, Malfoy." Percy says sternly.

"When I've had a look," Malfoy taunts waving inflatable it at Harry.

Harry doesn't wait for Percy to try again as her points his wand.

"Expelliarmus!"

Ron grins and catches the diary as it shoots out of Draco's hand and into the air.

"Harry!" Percy says loudly. "No magic in the corridors. I'll have to report this, you know!"

Malfoy look furious so when Ginny and I pass him to enter a lesson we have together, he looks spitefully at her.

"I don't think Potter liked your valentine very much!"

Ginny covers her face and I watch helplessly as she runs into class.

While he's distracted by Ron pulling out his wand (luckily Harry stops him before he could make himself belch slugs all though Charms), I pull my silver wand from my boot and whisper a jinx at Malfoy's shoes.

I watch satisfied as they tie themselves together before slipping into the room after my red haired friend.

I slip silently into the seat next to her and pretend not to see the tears in the corners of her eyes.

"How did Harry get Riddle's diary?" I ask her in a whisper.

"I-I tried to get rid of it."

My eyes widen in surprise. "Why, that thing is so cool."

She lowers her voice even more and I have to duck closer to hear.

"I think that it's the reason I can't remember doing things. Why I wake up in different places I never went."

My breath catches. "Why didn't you tell me?" I hiss lowly. She shrugs. "Well if that's the case, you have to get it back from Harry."

She nods glumly.

...

I walk slowly through the halls with Ginny on our way out to the Quidditch pitch.

"I got it." She says. "It caused quite a commotion in Gryffindor tower."

"Don't use it, okay?" I ask. "Hide it away until we can find a sure way of destroying it; magical objects tend to be hard to-" I freeze as that cold voice, the one from so long ago that I was beginning to think never happened, washes over me, almost like a whispering echo.

"Kill this time...let me rip...tear..."

I feel my face drain of any color.

"Alex?" Ginny asks worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"Y-you didn't hear that?" I ask shakily.

"Hear what?"

I swallow thickly and force my feet to carry me forward.

"It's probably nothing." I say as the oak doors come into view.

I numbly find a seat high in the bleachers next to Ron and a feeling of dread fills me when I see no Hermione in sight.

That feeling only grows when Professor McGonagall comes marching across the field right before they start the match.

"This match has been canceled." She calls through the microphone. "All students are to make their way back to the House common rooms, where their Heads of House will give them further information. As quickly as you can please!"

I stand numbly and follow Ron down into the pitch as she gestures to Harry. "Yes, perhaps you three better come too."

My stomach does horrible summersaults as we draw closer to the infirmary, cotton seemingly blocking out all noise.

McGonagall pushes the door open and my stomach drops to my feet.

Hermione.


	8. That's not Ginny

Ch 8

"All students will return to their House common rooms by six o'clock in the evening. No student is to leave the dormitories after that time. You will be escorted to each lesson by a teacher. No student is to use the bathroom unaccompanied by a teacher. All further Quidditch training and matches are to me postponed. There will be no more evening activities."

All the Slytherins pack into the common room as Professor Snape reads from a parchment.

I hardly pay attention to him though as I glare at Malfoy, who is smiling and looking very smug. I want to just punch that smirk off his face.

I turn away as Snape exits through the wall door, and trudge up to my dormitory.

I had just pulled on my pajamas when the door opens again and the first years flood in talking excitedly.

My teeth clench as I pull the sheets over my head.

I should have told someone what I heard; maybe it could have been stopped. But Ginny didn't hear it, only I did. Who would have believed me?

Astrid hisses as me as I accidentally squeeze her too tight and moves to curl up at the foot of the bed.

Eventually I fall asleep to the unconcerned talk about the Chamber of Secrets.

The next day, the Slytherins are escorted to breakfast and I'm forced to eat at my table.

It's miserable there, eating with a group of strangers even though I live with them. They look at me strangely like they didn't even know that I'm in their House. My toast is dry trying to swallow and that's all I eat this morning.

Combined Potions with Gryffindor is first and I almost gladly follow the other Slytherins down to the dungeons.

"Are you okay?" I ask Ginny as soon as I take a seat.

"Yeah." She sighs. "We won't be able to hang out now outside of class."

"I know." I groan. "I guess this would be a good time to catch up on homework.

"I though that you get good grades." She frowns.

"Oh I do, I just forget to do the homework sometimes and push it of till the day it's due. It's very stressing trying to write a thirteen-inch paper for Snape at breakfast-" I break off as Professor Snape turns his dark eyes on me.

I smile at him and give a little wave.

Ginny almost smiles behind her cauldron.

When the evil Professor turns away, Ginny leans over with a deep frown.

"They took Hagrid away last night, to Azkaban."

"What?" I hiss distractedly pulling out potions ingredients listed in the board. "Why?"

"Apparently he opened the Chamber of Secrets about fifty years before. He was expelled but Dumbledore felt bad for him so he hired him as gamekeeper. Dumbledore's gone too, kicked out last night." She says, worriedly chopping burdock roots.

"They can't do that! If he's gone then there will be an attack every day!"

"Shhh!" She hisses at me glancing over a Snape who is hovering unnervingly close to a Gryffindor first year. "There's nothing we can do about it." She says and I can clearly see the worry in her dark green eyes.

...

Summer quickly creeps over the grounds of Hogwarts, turning the lake a deep blue, and sprouting large flowers from the greenhouse. (I was nearly eaten by a carnivorous one on the way to Herbology one time and the Ravenclaws and Slytherins just laughed at me as Professor Sprout struggled to get me down)

Still, Madam Pomfrey refuses to let me visit Hermione claiming that they were taking no chances.

The only bright side of anything is that no one suspects Harry of doing it any longer. Everyone knows how close he is with Hermione, and would never hurt her.

I didn't think that Lockhart can get anymore annoying through all this but then again, I'm not right on very many occasions when is comes to non school related things.

He's all happy and chipper, saying that the danger has past, the culprit caught.

I ended up throwing my book at him in anger when he started hinting that he knew Hagrid was the one doing it all along.

"Whoops, careful there, you lost control of your book for a moment." He had said handing it back to me. Sadly, I had missed his head that I was aiming for.

The Slytherin common room is almost always full and loud so I spend most of my time studying on my bed with Astrid darting around the floor playing with random dust bunnies.

And then Snape had to go and announce that we are still having stupid exams. I hate testing; I get all panicky!

Three days before the first exam though, Professor McGonagall makes an announcement.

"I have some good news," she says, and the Great Hall erupts instead of falling silent.

"Dumbledore's coming back!" I, along with several others, say excitedly.

"You've caught the heir of Slytherin!" A girl in Ravenclaw squeals.

"Quidditch matches are back on!" Wood says from farther down the table.

Professor McGonagall waits patiently for the noise to die down some and sit not so patiently next to Ginny (I had snuck over when no one was paying attention).

"Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit."

There is an explosion of cheering but I'm destracted by Ginny's hand clutching my arm so tightly.

Her eyes are wide and panicky.

"It's not you." I say firmly.

She twists in her seat to face Ron, twisting her hands in her lap nervously.

"What's up?" Ron asks, reaching over to get more porridge.

Ginny bites her lip looking up and down the table. She eyes hesitate on me.

"Spit it out." Ron says watching her now.

"I've got to tell you something." She says completely avoiding looking at Harry.

"Ginny, don't." I say worriedly. Will they jump to the wild conclusion that Ginny is the heir of Slytherin, like Ginny did herself?

Because she's not; she can't be.

"I have to tell them." She says looking at me with wide eyes and I suddenly realize that it's been eating at her. She has to tell them.

I slowly nod okay.

"What is it?" Harry asks.

"What?" Ron demands impatiently when she opens her mouth but nothing comes out.

Harry leans forward whispering softly.

"Is it the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?" How did he guess?

Ginny draws a deep breath, ready to finally tell them about what's been going on, but Percy appears at that exact moment.

"If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty."

Ginny jolts harshly in her chair, a look of terror crossing her face before she gets up and runs away.

I stare open mouthed as her red hair disappears farther along the table.

Dude. Not cool, leaving me here.

"Percy!" Ron says angrily. "She was just about to tell us something important!"

Percy chokes halfway through a gulp of tea.

"What sort of thing?" He coughs.

"I just asked her if she'd seen anything odd, and she started to say-"

"Oh- that- that's nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets." Percy says quickly and I narrow my eyes.

"How do you know?" Ron raises an eyebrow.

"Well, er, if you must know, Ginny, er, walked in on me the other day when I was- well, never mind- the point is, she spotted me doing something and I, um. I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really, it just rather-"

"Oh, for the love of all things magical," I shout, "no one cares that you've got a girlfriend; she wasn't even going to tell them that!"

Shock registers on his face and he spills the rest of his tea down his front.

"How- how did you-?"

"Well, of course she told me, you can't see something like that and just not tell someone about it."

He stands sharply and storms away with a red face, and maybe I shouldn't have told them, but he ruined Ginny's chance of coming clean.

"What was Ginny going to say, Alex?"

Beside him, Ron looks after his brother, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. "Girlfriend?" He asks incredulously.

"That's for her to tell, not me." I frown looking farther along the table at her. "Maybe next time."

...,.

I'm sitting in my second period class, when from the corner of my eye, I see a flash of long red hair.

I turn curiously to the small window on the door, but the color is gone.

I turn back to my Charms assignment and continue working for a few seconds before discretely shooting a fire charm at the Professor's desk.

Some papers catch fire and there is a moment of panic where I stand and slip from the room unnoticed.

I look up and down the hall searching for the strange streak. Eventually, I just start walking in the direction I had saw it turn, taking random turns until I find myself in the hall that the first attack took place.

I jump back behind the corner to hide.

My breathing comes faster and my heart pounds. There's no way this can be, it's not right, it's not true...

I peer my head around the corner and watch as Ginny, with a brush coated in red writes on the wall just beneath the last message.

Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever

Whose?

Ginny's arm drops to her side and she walks as if asleep, but her eyes are wide and open.

They are not their brilliant green though, but dull and cloudy.

In her other hand, I see, she clutches a black book.

Tom Riddle's diary.

Confusion swirls inside me as she walks towards Myrtle's bathroom and slips inside, but I do know one thing for sure.

That is not Ginny Weasley controlling that body.

I sneak forward and wait a few seconds by the door before pushing it open quietly...

But no one is in there besides Myrtle siting in the last stall.

I look around confused for a moment before a tingling spreds through my fingers.

My eyes land on the middle cooper tap where that small snake is carved.

My legs carry me forward without my consent and my fingers run over it.

It's cold to the touch.

I should have known. The snake is the main symbol of Salazar Slytherin- it would make sense that you would need to speak the snake language to get in.

"Open." I say to the snake and a scratchy hiss escapes my lips.

The sink shutters and sinks into the ground until it is completely out of sight.

A pipe large enough to fit a grown man stands there, sloping down into pitch-blackness.

Taking a deep breath, I lower myself onto the slimy slide, and let go.

Air rushes up into my face, gross and cold as I twist and turn to the pipes desires. Tears sprout in my eyes as my elbow slams into sides at a particularly sharp curve.

I have to be miles under the school by now, probably farther than anyone's ever been...

Then the pipe levels and I shoot out to land on the damp floor with a wet thud.

The dark stone tunnel is about a foot above my head when I stand up and the walls are slimy.

I don't dare light my wand as I hear very faint footsteps farther in.

I tiptoe onward, following the faint echoes of feet.

Crunch.

I wince and pause, my eyes wide as they strain to see in the lightless tunnel.

"Lumos." I whisper to my glinting wand and a small blue glow comes from the tip.

The floor is covered in rat bones.

I continue forward, stepping around the skeletal bodies and deeper into the darkness.

My wand only lights a few feet ahead of me, and the footfalls had long ago gone out of hearing range.

Something huge and curved comes up, blocking the way, and I pause.

Snake skin, I somehow know, but it's twenty feet long and gigantic, a vivid poisonous green.

I crawl around in and continue on, leaving it untouched.

On and on the tunnel goes, winding and turning until my nerves are set on end to go with my pounding heart, beating so fast and hard that I wouldn't be surprised if I had a bruise on my chest after this.

Then a tall solid wall rises up in front of me with two serpents carved, dark glinting emeralds set as their eyes.

"Open." I say is a low hiss and the snakes part, a crack appearing until the two haves slide silently and smoothly out of sight.

I extinguish my light by tucking the wand into my boot and take a step inside.


	9. That is one big snake

Ch 9

The chamber that I walk into is very long and dimly lit. A hushed voice whispers across the room and I hurriedly slip behind one of the many pillars holding up the ceiling.

"-almost time." A boy is whispering.

I slip silently through the dark shadows cast over the greenish gloom, and I feel suddenly very sick of the color.

The only thing I want to see it on, are Ginny's wide eyes.

I draw closer, unseen by the older boy that couldn't be more than sixteen years old.

He's a normal looking boy, with black hair and wearing the Hogwarts school robes.

But the odd thing is, is that he is blurry like the one time I looked through someone's glasses, and I can see through him like I am looking through a misted window.

It's very harsh on my eyes and makes me go cross-eyed.

He looks so very familiar, but I can't put my finger on where I've seen him before because my attention and worry is drawn elsewhere.

Ginny lay at his feet with Tom Riddle's diary a few feet away.

Panic surges in me until I can see the steady rise and fall of her chest. She's deathly pale.

A huge statue looms above her, looking old and sinister.

I draw closer, keeping my eyes on the fuzzy boy as I slip behind the man who founded my House, Salazar Slytherin.

He continues to talk in a soft voice to my unconscious best friend.

"It can't be much longer now, they'd have found the message by now and Harry Potter will be on his way to save you..."

I think about jumping out and start sending curses at him, but I don't know if it would do any good; he doesn't seem solid. A ghost maybe?

My hand moves to my boot and takes out my white-wood wand wand, clutching it tightly.

The room shudders slightly and dust falls from the ceiling.

The boy tilts his head back and smiles at the high stone.

"It's like he's trying to let me know that he's here." He looks back down at Ginny's limps form and kneels beside her.

His misty hand reaches over and caresses her cheek, as if he could touch it.

"You have been very much use to me." He says and stands, striding over to a pillar to lean against.

His eyes watch the wall I had walked through and his back is completely turned to me.

Now would be my chance, if I was to do something, but he said Harry is on his way. He could help. He's fought real threats before and he's bigger than me.

He will get us out of this, with Ginny still alive.

It seems like hours by the time the far wall slides open, and Harry walks cautiously inside the chamber.

He walks nervously through the pillars, eyes searching into the darkest corners as if expecting a monster jump out at him. His wand is clenched tightly in his wand.

"Ginny!" His mutter echoes around the tall walls when he sees her. He sprints toward her and falls to his knees at her side, much like I was wanting to do. "Ginny- don't be dead- please don't be dead-"

Stupid! I think when he flings his wand to the side to grab Ginny's shoulders to flip her over.

From this angle, I can see how white she really is. She needs help- soon.

"Ginny, please wake up," Harry murmurs desperately shaking her.

Doesn't he know not to shake someone who could possibly have a head injury?!

"She won't wake." The boy says softly from his shadow.

Harry jumps and spins around on his knees.

"Tom- Tom Riddle?"

A shudder goes through me at hearing his name. This is him? The one from the diary?

Riddle nods not taking his eyes from Harry's face.

"What d'you mean she won't wake?" Harry asks desperately. "She's not- she's not-?"

"She's alive." Tom says. "But only just."

Harry stares at him in confusion and a sort of fascination.

"Are you a ghost?" He asks uncertainly.

"A memory," I murmur just as he says it.

"Preserved in a diary for fifty years." He points to the little black book laying opened next in the unconscious girl.

"You've got to help me, Tom," Harry says shaking off whatever thought he was having and lifting Ginny's head. "We've got get out of here. There's a basilisk... I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment... Please, help me-"

As expected, Riddle doesn't move.

A basilisk is the monster? Yes, of course it is; the feathers that Ginny was covered in were a rooster's, its caw is fatal to it, and a look into the snake's eyes petrifies you to death.

No one looked directly at it, Colin through a camera, Mrs. Norris through the water, Justin through Nearly Headless Nick, and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect through that mirror that was found near them, so no one died.

Harry hoists Ginny half off the floor and reaches for his wand, but it's gone.

"Did you see-?" He breaks off seeing Riddle, twirling his wand between his fingers idly.

"Thanks." Harry says holding his hand out for it and I want to scream at him that he's not on our side.

"Listen," he says sagging under my friend's weight. "We've got to go! If the basilisk comes-"

"It won't come until it's called." Riddle says calmly.

Harry, unable to support her any more, lowers Ginny back onto the cold floor.

"What d'you mean? Look, give me my wand, I might need it-"

Riddle smiles widely. "You won't be needing it." He says and Harry stares at him dumbly.

"What d'you mean I won't be-?"

"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," Riddle says. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you."

"Look, I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later-"

"We're going to talk now." He pockets Harry's wand.

Harry stares at him and I think he finally starts to realize that something is not right.

"How did Ginny get like this?" He asks slowly.

"Well, that's an interesting question," Riddle says almost pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled her secrets to an invisible stranger."

I can feel my face pale.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asks.

"The diary." He says. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes- how her brothers tease her, how she had come to school with secondhand robes and books, how"- I can see Riddle's eyes glint- "how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her..."

My fists clench. He shouldn't be saying this stuff to him; he shouldn't be just telling him her secrets.

"It's very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in... It's like having a little friend I can carry around in my pocket..."

A small pang of sorrow twinges in my chest. Was I not enough of a friend?

Riddle laughs a high cold laugh that really doesn't suit him.

I think Harry is finally starting to get that he's the bad guy.

"If I say so myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted... I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back into her..."

My stomach flips and flounders in my being.

"What d'you mean?" Harry seems to be saying that a lot.

"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" Riddle asks softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the Serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."

I find it hard to swallow.

"No." Harry whispers.

"Yes," Riddle says calmly. "Of course she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries... far more interesting, they became...Dear Tom," he recites. "I think I'm losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint all down my front. Alex says not to tell anyone, even Hermione. Dear Tom, Percy keeps telling me I'm pale and I'm not myself. I think he suspects me... There was another attack today and I don't know where I was. Tom, what am I going to do? I think I'm going mad... I think I'm attacking everyone, Tom!"

I clench my eyes shut and my nails cut into my palm.

I should have done more, helped her more, listened more. She should have known that she could talk to me.

"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," Riddle says. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. That's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet..."

"And why did you want to meet me?" I can see from my hiding place, anger is rising in him.

"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," Tom says. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes move to the lighting scar on his forehead. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust-"

"Hagrid's my friend," Harry says, voice shaking audibly. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but-"

Riddle laughs his high laugh again.

"It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student... On the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf Cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls... but I admit, even I was surprised how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realize that Hagrid couldn't possibly be the Heir of Slytherin. It has taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance...as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power!"

"He really is mad!" I mutter to myself as he continues on with his rant.

"Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed... Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teaches did..."

"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," Harry says gritting his teeth.

"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," Riddle says carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still in school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen year old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Well you haven't finished it," Harry says triumphantly. "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready and everyone who was Petrified will be all right again-"

"Haven't I already told you," Riddle says quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter anymore? For many months now, my new target has been- you."

What? I lean forward slightly to get a better view.

"Imaging how angry I was when the next time my diary was opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it, and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling those roosters? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From what Ginny had told me, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery- particularly if one of your best friends were attacked. And Ginny told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parsletongue...

So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her... She put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last... I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."

Oh Ginny, I'm sorry I told you to take the book back.

"Like what?" Harry spits.

Riddle smiles pleasantly. "Well, how is it that you- a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent- manage to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

I can't help but shrink away from his hungry eyes, even though they are not directed at me.

"Why do you care how I escaped? Voldemort was after your time," Harry says slowly.

"Voldemort," Riddle says softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter..."

I watch open mouthed as he takes out Harry's wand and traces it through the air, writing three shimmering words.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE

He waves the wand and the letters rearrange themselves.

I AM LORD VOLDEMORT

My hands slap over my mouth to keep from gasping.

"You see?" He whispers. "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts, to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side?"

He continues on and on but I'm not listening anymore.

No, a picture has just popped into my head, of where I know this boy. I have seen it many times in my life, but never cared much to take a close look. It was just another decoration on the wall to me...

"He's not as gone as you might think!" I hear Harry say and I'm snapped back to the present.

Wait, what? What's going on?

A music fills the air and Riddle whirls around to stare down the empty chamber. But the sound grows louder, eerie and spine-tingling. It's unearthly tune lifts every hair on my body and then the music reaches such a pitch that I feel it vibrating inside my own ribs.

Flames erupt from the closest pillar and a crimson bird the size of a swan soars high above, piping its weird song to the vaulted ceiling.

A phoenix! I think in amazement as its golden tail fans out behind it and gleaming golden talons grip a bundle of some sort.

The bird flies straight at Harry, dropping the ragged thing at his feet and landing heavily on his shoulder.

"That's a phoenix," Riddle says staring shrewdly at the beautiful avian.

"Fawkes?" Harry breaths, looking at the bird in amazement.

"And that-" says Riddle, now eyeing the ragged thing Fawkes had dropped, "that's the school Sorting Hat-"

Riddle begins to laugh again. He laughs so hard that the dark Chamber rings with it.

My eyes fall on Ginny, pale and tiny beneath the monstrous statue.

If I reached out, I could touch her. But they'd see me and that boy sends terror down my spine, but not because of his power or who is; no, my fear is something totally different.

He hisses something and I look up to see him staring up at the stone Salazar.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

Harry spins around to watch, but his eyes meet mine, widening in shock as they see my horror filled eyes hiding in the shadows, and then they rise to Slytherin's gigantic mouth opening wider and wider to make a huge black hole.

Something stirs in its depths, slithering up as Harry backs away until he hits the Chamber wall.

Fawkes takes flight and I hide farther into the shadows. But Ginny, she's out in the open...

The ground shudders and the massive snake falls to the ground and I hear Riddle's voice, "Kill him."


	10. Just like magic

Ch 10

Terrified and unable to do anything, I clench my eyes shut and close my hands tightly over my ears.

I am not brave; I am not Gryffindor like that hat said. I'm just a scared child who can't do anything to help or fight back, even when my friends are in trouble.

Friends- I've never had any before I came here, and now I'm going to lose half of them to this monster and the snake.

No.

I have to fight, I won't let anymore of them get hurt. Hermione is going to get better and Harry and I are going to walk out of this dank place smiling with Ginny supported between us, alive.

Shaking, I stand and open my eyes just in time to see Fawkes diving at the green scaly serpent.

"NO!" Riddle screams as blood streams from the yellow, bulbous eyes. The phoenix had punctured both of its eyes and it is writhing in pain. "LEAVE THE BIRD! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! YOU CAN STILL SMELL HIM!"

The blind Serpent sways, confused, but still very deadly.

I take my first step out into the open, out of the safety of the shadows, and my entire body trembles.

I'm tiny compared to it, even more so than Tom or Harry, because I'm short for my age.

"Help me, help me," I can hear Harry muttering wildly, "someone- anyone-"

His eyes meet mine once again and I draw in a deep breath. I have to help.

I clench my wand tightly in my hand and point it at the screeching basilisk.

"I-Incendio!" I say but the fire that shoots out of my wand does little to the scaled skin.

The tail whips across the floor, missing Harry but slams me in the stomach and sending me flying.

My head cracks against the wall and my vision blurs.

My wand flies somewhere to the right of me.

"KILL THE BOY! LEAVE THE BIRD! THE BOY IS BEHIND YOU! SNIFF- SMELL HIM!"

Luckily, Tom Riddle hadn't seen my stupidly planned hero attempt and my arms shake dangerously as I try to get up.

When did Harry get a sword? I think drowsily as my vision finally clears, but there is a distinct ringing in my ears.

The snake lunges blindly at him and Harry swings the gleaming silver sword as he dodges, but not much progresses from there.

I stand, leaning heavily on the wall.

"Fine then, if you can't kill him, kill the girl!" Riddle shouts in Parsletongue.

At first I think he's finally spotted me and was ordering my death, but the basilisk spins around, way faster than a thing that large should be able to do, and lunges at Ginny.

Harry is about as far away from her as I am, only on the opposite side, and we both run towards her.

Why? Why would he order it to kill her?

The fear had left me, and instead, anger warms my veins.

"STOP!"

And miraculously, it freezes mouth wide open and giving Harry enough time to lift his sword all the way and plunge it through the roof of the basilisk's mouth.

The snake keels over sideways, and falls twitching to the floor.

"Way to go, Harry!" I gasp, but then he slides to the ground griping his arm.

What? My eyes widen as they land on the long fang sunk deep into my friend's arm and my jaw clenches.

Basilisk's are very poisonous.

He grips the red stained tooth, wincing in pain, and pulls it from his arm.

I crawl closer, hovering my hands uselessly over the wound.

"How'd- you do that." He gasps in exhaustion. The poison is already working its way through his body.

The scarlet bird lands to the side of us and Harry's eyes droop slightly.

"Fawkes," he says thickly. "You were fantastic Fawkes..."

The beautiful bird rests its head on the spot where the serpent's fang had pierced him and I hear footsteps echoing as a dark shadow fall over us.

"You'll be okay, Harry, we'll get you some help an you'll be good as new."

"You're dead, Harry Potter," Riddle says from above us.

He looks down on me, not with anger but a kind of curiosity.

"Dead." He repeats turning back to Harry. "Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying."

I blink. Crying?

Hope surges in me and calms my racing heart. So he will be okay, thank Merlin for Dumbledore's bird.

"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

Wow, he really likes saying Harry's name, doesn't he? I think someone has a little boy crush.

"Trapped in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends-"

"Hello, I'm right here?" I say exasperated.

He continues on as if he hadn't heard me. He probably wrote this whole speech months ago.

"Defeated by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry... She bought you twelve years of borrowed time...but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must..."

I grin menacingly as Harry blinks a couple of times and color floods his cheeks once more. A pearly patch of tears shines around where his wound used to be.

"Get away, bird," Riddle says suddenly in comprehension. "Get away from him- I said, get away-"

Harry raises his head as Tom points his wand at Fawkes and there is a bang.

The phoenix takes flight in a whirl of gold and scarlet.

"Phoenix tears..." He says staring at Harry's arm. "Of course...healing powers... I forgot..." He looks into Harry's face. "But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter...you and me..."

"Again, I'm right here!" I say throwing my arms up and rolling my eyes.

Amazingly, all my fear from before is totally gone and all that's left is a strange sense of annoyance.

Why do bad guys have to have such long dialogues? Why can't they just be, 'boom, you're dead' and be done with it? Are they wanting to bore the hero to death?

He ignores me again and raises his wand-

The diary, I notice, is sitting just a foot to my right.

If Riddle is attached to it, then what would happen if it were destroyed?

Hmm.

I seize the basilisk fang from next to Harry, and drive it right into the heart of the book.

A long, terrible scream pierces the air, and I want I cover my ears with my hands but torrents of ink sputters and streams over my skin.

Riddle twists and writhes and screams and then-

He's gone. Harry's wand falls to the floor in a clatter and there is a deadening silence. Silence except for the steady drip, drip, drip of ink still oozing from the diary. The basilisk venom had burned a sizzling hole straight through it.

"Well, that worked." I say, grimacing at the gross sticky feel of my hands. They'll be stained for weeks.

A surprised bubble of laughter comes from Harry and we look at each other before doubling over in gasping, stomach aching humor.

Finally, I pull myself to my feet and go in search of my fallen wand.

When I get back, Harry is carrying the Sorting Hat, the shiney sword, and his wand which he promptly stuffs into his pocket.

A faint moan has me rushing over to my red haired friend as she sits up.

Her eyes travel from the huge dead basilisk, over Harry and I's blood and ink soaked robes, and to the diary in my hand.

Tears pour down her face as she gives a great shuddering gasp.

"Harry- oh, Harry- I tried to tell you at b-breakfast, but I c-couldn't say it in front of Percy- it was me, Harry- but I- I s-swear I d-didn't mean to-"

"Ginny, calm down honey; it's okay." I say as soothingly as I can, surprising myself by using such an endearing term.

"Yeah, it's alright." Harry says making me hold up the diary to show the fang hole. "Riddle's finished. Look! Him and the basilisk. C'mon Ginny, let's get you out of here-"

"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny cries as Harry and I help her to her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill came and n-now I'll have to leave and- w-what'll Mom and Dad say?"

"Ginny, calm down. You're not going to get expelled alright? You didn't know."

We hurry forward towards Fawkes who is waiting for us hovering over the Chamber entrance, stepping over the dead basilisk and echoing gloom, and right back out into the tunnel.

The doors close with a soft hiss as if saying goodbye.

After a few minutes' progress up the dark tunnel, a distant sound of slowly shifting rock reaches my ears.

"Ron!" Harry says speeding up and pulling me along behind him. "Ginny's okay! We've got her!"

"Ron is here?" I ask surprised.

A strangled cheer sounds from around the bend and when we turn it, I can see his eager face staring through a sizable gap in a rock fall.

I don't remember that being there, though, when I came through.

"You collapsed the tunnel?" I ask and Rob turns his curious eyes on me.

"Alex? What are you doing here?" He says thrusting his arms through the hole to pull Ginny over first.

"I saw Ginny writing on the wall and I followed her."

Fawkes swoops through the hole and Ron's eyes widen.

"Where did that bird come from?"

"He's Dumbledore's." Harry says squeezing himself through.

"How come you've got a sword?"

"Was wandering that too." I say, slipping over to the other side. Because I'm so small, it's quite easy to do so.

"I'll explain when we get out of here," he says with a sideways glance at Ginny, who is crying harder than ever.

I pull her to me, hoping to offer some comfort, and she turns into my shirt.

"But-"

"Later." Harry says shortly. "Where's Lockhart?"

"Lockhart? That twit is here?" I ask groaning.

"Back there," Ron says, almost laughing at me. "He's in a bad way. Come and see."

Fawkes leads us by his softly glowing wings to the mouth of the pipe.

Gilderoy Lockhart is sitting there, humming placidly to himself.

"His memory's gone. The Memory Charm backfired. Hit him instead of us. Hasn't got a clue who he is, or where he is, or who we are. I told him to come and wait here. He's a danger to himself."

Lockhart peers good-naturedly up at us.

"Hello," he says. "Odd sort of place, this, isn't it? Do you live here?"

I can't help but grin and nudge him slightly with my foot.

He just blinks up at me with a stupid expression.

"Oh, you have to tell me this whole story later."

Ginny, who is still tucked into my side, slaps me half-heartedly in the stomach.

"Have you thought how we're going to get back up this?" Harry asks bending down to look up the long, dark pipe.

Ron shakes his head, but Fawkes the Phoenix swoops past Harry and is now fluttering in front of him, his beady eyes bright in the dark.

He waves his golden tail feathers.

"He looks like he wants you to grab hold..." Ron says looking confused. "But you're much too heavy for a bird the pull up there-"

"Fawkes," Harry says, "isn't an ordinary bird."

"He's a phoenix, Ron, and they can carry loads of weight." I say, what I like to think of, as helpfully.

Harry turns quickly to us. "We've got to hold onto each other. Alex, grab Ron's hand and Ginny's. Professor Lockhart-"

"He means you," I say, almost too happily.

"You hold onto Ginny's other hand-"

Harry tucks the sword and the Sorting Hat into his belt, and when Ron takes the back of his robes, Harry reaches out and takes hold of the phoenix's tale feathers.

An extraordinary lightness spreads through me as, in a rush of wings, we are flying upward through the pipe.

I could hear Lockhart's joyful bellowing: "Amazing! Amazing! This is just like magic!"

I laugh as the chill air whips through my hair and all too soon, it's over- all of us hitting the wet floor of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and as Lockhart straightens his hat, the sink that hides the pipe is sliding back into place.

Myrtle ogles at us.

"You're alive." She says blankly to Harry.

"No need to sound so enthusiastic." I say sarcastically as Harry wipes flecks of blood and grime from his glasses.

"Oh, well... I'd just been thinking...if you had died, you'd have been welcome to share my toilet," Myrtle says to Harry, blushing silver.

"Ugh!" Ron says as we leave the bathroom for the dark deserted corridor outside. "Harry! I think Myrtle's grown fond of you! You've got competition, Ginny!"

I grin at my best friend hoping to lighten the mood, but tears were still falling from her eyes at an alarming rate.

"Where now?" Ron asks with an anxious look at his sister.

Harry points at Fawkes as he leads the way, glowing gold along the corridor.

We follow after, me tripping slightly every few steps. Now that we are out of life and death danger, I can feel a point on my head prickling in pain and I notice my vision is slightly blurred around the edges, like the whole world has become a memory like Tom Riddle was.

We find ourselves at Professor McGonagall's office moments later and Harry knocks before pushing it open without an answer.


	11. I meet the parents

Ch 11

For a moment there is silence as me, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart all stand in the doorway, covered in muck and slime and (in Harry and I's case) blood. Then there is a scream.

"Ginny!"

A slightly pudgy ginger-haired woman, who it looks like had been crying in front of the fire, leaps to her feet, closely followed by a tall ginger-haired man.

They must be the Weasleys' parents, I realize and try to flatten my shirt to look more presentable.

Of course it's a lost battle at the very first though of it because of all the grime sticking to my face.

It wouldn't matter anyway as they take no notice of me and fling themselves at their daughter.

Fawkes swoops past my head and my eyes follow him as he settles on Dumbledore's shoulder.

He stands there, beaming next to the mantelpiece and beside him, Professor McGonagall is taking big steadying gasps and clutching her chest.

Mrs. Weasley then lunges at Harry and Ron, sweeping them up in a tight embrace.

I suddenly feel as though I am intruding in on a family moment.

"You saved her! You saved her! How did you do it?"

"I think we'd all like to know that," Professor McGonagall says rather weakly.

"Well, actually," Harry says as Mrs. Weasley lets go of him. He hesitates a moment before walking over to the desk and placing the Sorting Hat, the shining ruby incrusted sword, and what remained of Riddle's diary, down.

"Actually, Alex was the one to save her- and me too. We would have died if she hadn't been there."

And he began to tell them everything and I got to hear the full story of their investigation that they kept from Ginny and I.

He told us about the disembodied voice that he heard, and I felt relief swarm my body- I wasn't going crazy after all- and how Hermione had realized that he was hearing a basilisk in the pipes; how he and Ron had followed spiders into the forest, that Aragog, the father of the spiders, had told them where the last victim of the basilisk had died; how he guessed that Moaning Myrtle had been the victim, and that the Chamber of Secrets might be in her bathroom...

I was surprised at hearing Myrtle was killed by it; I never gave much thought to how she'd died. Maybe she had killed herself or something.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall prompts as he pauses in his tail, "so you found out where the entrance was- breaking a hundred school rules along the way, I might add- but how on earth did you all get out of there alive, Potter? And, Alex, you are mentioned nowhere in this so how did you end up down there?"

I bite my lip, not wanting to rat out Ginny, because really, who would believe a bunch of kids saying an old diary made them do it? What if Ginny does get expelled?

Harry's voice, I notice, is growing horse from talking as he tells them about Fawkes's timely arrival and about the Sorting Hat giving him the sword. About how he had seen me, hiding in the shadows and going unnoticed by anyone else.

The way he tells it makes me seem like a hero, sneaking around and biding my time.

But he falters before mentioning the diary, no doubt having the same dilemma as me, not wanting to get Ginny in trouble.

Harry glances at Dumbledore who smiles faintly.

"What interests me the most," the Headmaster says gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently hiding in the forests of Albania."

Relief sweeps over my entire being.

"W-what's that?" Mr. Weasley stutters in a stunned voice. "You-Know-Who? En-enchan Ginny? But Ginny's not... Ginny hasn't been...has she?"

"It was his diary," I say drawing everyone's eyes to me and deciding to give Harry a break from speaking. Up until now, I have gone unnoticed really, and quickly pick up the destroyed book to show it to Dumbledore.

"Riddle wrote in it when he was sixteen. He stored his memory in its pages..."

Dumbledore takes the diary from me and peers keenly down his long, crooked nose at its burnt and soggy pages.

"Brilliant." He says softly. "Of course, he was probably the most brilliant student Hogwarts has ever seen." He turns to the Weasleys, who were looking utterly bewildered.

"Very few people know that Lord Voldemort was once called Tom Riddle. I taught him myself, fifty years ago, at Hogwarts. He disappeared after leaving the school...traveled far and wide...sank so deeply into the Dark Arts, consorted with the very worst of our kind, underwent so many dangerous, magical transformations, that when he resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, he was barely recognizable. Hardly anyone connected Lord Voldemort with the clever, handsome boy who was once Head Boy here."

"But, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley says. "What's our Ginny got to do with- with-him?"

"His diary." I say softly, looking down at the ground.

"I've b-been writing in it, and he's been w-writing back all year-" she sobs.

"Ginny!" Mr. Weasley says shocked. "Haven't I taught you anything? What have I always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. Why didn't you show the diary to me, or your mother? A suspicious object like that, it was clearly full of Dark Magic-"

"She didn't know!" I say, stepping in front of her to defend her with a wavering glare on my face. This isn't just another student I'm talking to, but a full fledged wizard that can do real damage. "It's not her fault; she found it in one of the books you got her. It's an honest mistake anyone in her situation could make; when she showed it to me, I didn't think anything could come of it either."

Mr. Weasley stares at me with an unreadable expression.

"Miss Weasley should go to the hospital wing right away," Dumbledore interrupts in a firm voice. "This has been a terrible ordeal for her. There will be no punishment. Older and wiser wizards than she have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort." He strides over to the door and holds it open. "Bed rest and perhaps a large steaming mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up," he adds, eyes twinkling down at her. "You will find that Madam Pomfrey is still away. She's just giving out Mandrake juice- I dare say the basilisk's victims will be waking up any moment."

"So Hermione's okay!" Ron says brightly.

"There has been no lasting harm done, Ginny." Dumbledore says.

Mrs. Weasley leads Ginny out of the room, casting a floating glance back at me, and Mr. Weasley follows, looking deeply shaken.

"You know, Minerva," Dumbledore says thoughtfully to Professor McGonagall, "I think all this merits a good feast. Might I ask you go and alert the kitchens?"

"Right," Professor McGonagal say crisply, also moving towards the door. "I'll leave you to deal with these four, shall I?"

"Certainly," he says.

She leaves and I gaze uncertainly up at Dumbledore. What had she meant exactly by deal with us? Surly we aren't about to get punished?

He ignores me though, and stares directly at the second year boys.

"I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules," Dumbledore says, and my eyes widen.

"Which just goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words," he goes on smiling. "You will both receive Special Awards for Service to the School and- let me see- yes, I think two hundred points apiece for Gryffindor."

My mouth opens wide in shock. They're being awarded for breaking the rules? This really is a strange school.

"And Miss Taylor," I snap to attention, eyes wide and I look at him wearily. "How exactly did you get down there? What part did you play in all this?"

Heat floods my cheeks. "I saw Ginny walking past the room I was in so I followed her. She was writing on the walls but she didn't look like herself. I snuck behind her into the Chamber. And the diary thing really wasn't her fault, I swear." I say clasping my hands in front of me. "I told her not to tell anyone, that there was no way that it was her. I didn't want her getting in trouble-"

Dumbledore raises his hand to stop me.

"I already pardoned Ginny from any punishment. Neither of you are in trouble, though I suggest, in the future, that you might tell someone. If not a teacher, then perhaps your other friends."

"Yes sir, thank you." I dip my head slightly.

"It really was incredible though," Harry says speaking up with shining eyes. "Alex is a Parselmouth, too."

Ron wheels on me with wide eyes and even Dumbledore shows immense surprise.

"The basilisk was going for Ginny, to kill her, and I wasn't going to get there in time. But then she just shouted 'stop' in Parseltongue and it did. That's when I was able to stab it."

Dumbledore regards me with a new curiosity in his eyes.

"Hmm." He strokes his beard. "Perhaps this information is best kept secret, yes?"

We all nod. "Then a reward should take place for you as well, Alex."

"How about we pretend I was never part of the Chamber fiasco?" I suggest hopefully.

"That would mean no points awarded to your House."

"Right," I say smiling and he returns it warmly.

"But one of us seems to be keeping mightily quiet about his part in this dangerous adventure," Dumbledore says, eyes moving over past my head. "Why so modest, Gilderoy?"

Harry jumps from his spot beside me and even I give a little startle.

I had completely forgotten about Lockhart. The Professor looks over his shoulder to see who was addressing him.

"Professor Dumbledore," Ron says quickly, "there was an accident down in the Chamber of Secrets. Professor Lockhart-"

"Am I a professor?" Lockhart says in mild surprise. "Goodness. I expect I was hopeless, was I?"

"He tried to do a Memory Charm and the wand backfired," Ron explains quietly to the headmaster.

"Dear me," Dumbledore says, shaking his head and his long silvery mustache quivers. "Impaled upon your own sword, Gilderoy!"

"Sword?" Lockhart says dimly. "Haven't got a sword. That boy has, though." He points at Harry. "He'll lend you one."

"Would you mind taking Professor Lockhart up to the infirmary, too?" Dumbledore asks Ron. "I'd like a few more words with Harry and Alex..."

Lockhart ambles out as Ron casts a curious look back at us before closing the door.

We stand in silence until Ron's footsteps fade completely.

"Alex." His soft voice startles me. "Would you mind waiting outside while I talk to Harry? I will speak to you after."

"Of course, Dumbledore." I say, quickly taking my leave and shutting the door behind me.

All through the year, Harry had spoken very kindly of Dumbledore, and I knew that he was a great headmaster... But I wanted to see for myself.

I always saw him from afar, sitting at the teachers' table and when he gives speeches, but I never met him, talked to him, so I couldn't form my own opinion on him.

Now I have and I know that Harry was right in his admiration. There is something about him, a kindness, that I don't see often I adults.


	12. Draco's father is a git

Ch 12

The corridor is dark and silent, and cold seeps through my robes as I slump down to rest on the floor.

I hear the faint murmur of voices in the room, but it's too muffled to understand any words and I close my eyes, tilting my head back.

A throbbing pulses in my skull.

Quick, hurried footsteps echo in the hall and I scramble to my feet as a man, white-blond hair slicked back, comes thundering forward with fury written on his face.

"Sir, I don't think you're supposed to-"

His arm sweeps out as he draws close enough, pushing me into the wall and I fall to the ground grimacing in pain.

He barges into the room without pause, a little house elf cowering behind his legs.

"Good evening, Lucius," Dumbledore says pleasantly.

I grit my teeth as he almost knocks Harry over as well and his round striking green eyes meet mine.

I stumble to my feet and hover uncertainly by the door frame.

"So!" The Lucius guy says as his house elf bobs apologetically around his ankles attempting to finish cleaning his shoes. "You've come back. The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, you see, Lucius," Dumbledore says smiling serenely, "the other eleven governors contacted me today. It was something like being caught in a hailstorm of owls, to tell the truth. They'd heard that Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back here at once. They seemed to think I was the best man for the job after all. Very strange tales they told me, too... Several of them seemed to think that you had threatened to curse their families if they didn't agree to suspend me in the first place."

"So- have you stopped the attacks yet?" Lucius sneers. "Have you caught a culprit?"

"We have," Dumbledore says with a smile.

"Well? Who is it?"

"The same person it was last time, Lucius, but this time, Lord Voldemort was acting through somebody else. By means of this diary." Dumbledore says, holding up the small black book with the hole through the center.

Harry, though, is not watching the exchange. He is looking at the small house elf, whose hands are heavily bandaged, and was doing something quite odd.

His great big eyes were fixed on Harry and he keeps pointing at the diary, then to his master before beating himself heavily in the head.

"I see..." Lucius is saying to Dumbledore.

"A clever plan," he says in a level voice. "Because if Harry here and his friends Ron and Alex hadn't discovered this book, why- Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will..."

The blond man, who looks strikingly familiar, remains silent and his face mask-like.

"And imagine," Dumbledore goes on, "what might have happened then... The Weasleys are one of our most prominent pure-blood families. Imagine the effect on Arthur Weasley and his Muggle Protection Act, if his own daughter was discovered attacking and killing Muggle-Borns... Very fortunate the diary was discovered, and Riddle's memories wiped from it. Who knows what the consequences might have been otherwise..."

"Very fortunate." The man speaks stiffly and a light goes off in my mind. I want to smack myself in the head for being so dense and not getting it earlier. The diary belongs to him. He somehow slipped it to Ginny.

And I said that Harry was slow on the uptake...

"Don't you want to know how Ginny got hold of that diary, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asks.

Malfoy? My palm smacking into my forehead but I go unnoticed by the two full grown wizards and Harry.

He's Draco's father.

Draco's father rounds on Harry. "How should I know how the stupid little girl got hold of it?" He says.

"Because you gave it to her," I mumble. He whips around to face me but Harry is already continuing on.

"In Flourish and Blotts. You picked up her old Transfiguration book and slipped the diary inside it, didn't you?"

Mr. Malfoy's white hands clench and unclench at his side and I find my own fists mimicking in anger.

"Prove it," he hisses.

"Oh, no one will be able to do that," Dumbledore says, smiling at Harry. "Now that Riddle has vanished from the book. On the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any more of Lord Voldemort's old school things. If any more of them find their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will make sure they are tracked back to you..."

I cover my mouth to conceal my grin, my liking to Dumbledore skyrocketing.

Mr. Malfoy's hand twitches as if longing to reach for his wand.

Instead, he turns to his house-elf.

"We're going, Dobby!"

He wrenches open the door, that had at some point closed, and as the elf comes hurrying up to him, he kicks him right through.

I wince every time the poor house-elf, Dobby, squeals in pain.

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry says hurriedly, an odd light to his green eyes. "Can I give that diary back to Mr. Malfoy, please?"

"Certainly, Harry," Dumbledore says calmly. "But hurry. The feast, remember..."

I watch in fascination as he wrenches his shoe off, slips off his sock, and then dashes out of the office, stuffing the grimy article over its pages.

The door closes and I turn back to the headmaster.

He stares at me placidly through his half moon spectacles and I shift uneasily.

Why did he want to talk to me alone?

"You are a Parselmouth, Miss Taylor?" He asks moving to sit in front of the fire.

I hesitate, and then slowly follow. The heat warms my skin but my veins remain ice-y.

"Yes," I respond.

"And you controlled the basilisk? It listened to you?"

"Yes," I repeat, my voice wavering.

"But it didn't listen to Harry."

"... No."

"Hmm..." He hums thoughtfully, brushing his boney hand thoughtfully through his long silver beard. "Miss Taylor, only Slytherin's Heir would be able to control that basilisk."

A lump in my throat makes it hard to breath.

"However," he continues, "you already figured that out, didn't you?"

"Yes." My voice comes out ragged and raspy. I clear my throat and wipe my sweaty hands on my robes. "So what are you going to do with all this?" I try to make it sound strong, defiant, but it wavers towards the end.

He regards me for a while, his head slightly tilted and I could swear that there is a small smile in the corner of his lips.

"Absolutely nothing."

Confusion makes my eyes narrow and he hurries on to explain.

"You did nothing wrong in saving Ginny Weasley's life and we cannot control whose blood runs in our veins."

My blood starts to move freely again, warming my body and my tense muscles relax.

"That is all, Miss Taylor, you may head down to the feast."

I stand shakily from my chair and head to the door, but as I reach it, Dumbledore speaks once again in his calm, soothing voice.

"But Alex...you should learn to trust your friends more. They are a good group of kids, they are."

"They can never know." I say, fingers curling at my side. "They would hate me and then they would leave me all alone."

He says nothing in response so I rip the door open and hurry out back into the hall.

...

The feast is incredible as I walk in late. Everyone is in their pajamas and talking and eating. The Houses, for the first time I've seen all year, are mingling (excluding most of the Slytherins of course).

A smile splits my face as Hermione stands suddenly from the Gryffindor and comes rushing over only to tackle me in a hug.

I don't think it was supposed to be a tackle, but I'm small and still half-focused from the blow to my head.

As she helps me up, apologizing and blushing and smiling profusely, I make a mental note to go see Madam Pomfrey tomorrow.

She leads me, jabbering on about something or another, and sits me down next to Ginny (who is smiling again) and Ron.

"So what did Dumbledore want to talk to you about?" Harry asks leaning forward with a smile stretched across his face.

I hesitate, and smile as well. "Nothing really, just wanted to go over my side of the story one more time."

"Oh."

And so we talk and laugh and Justin comes over from the Hufflepuff table to wring Harry's hand and apologize for suspecting him.

The best part of the night, I'd have to say, is Hagrid turning up half past three, cuffing Ron and Harry so hard on the shoulders that they are knocked into their plates of trifle.

He smiles at me as I laugh at the two, and heads toward the teachers' table.

Even Hagrid's arrival is almost trumped with the announcement that all exams are canceled as a school treat.

"Oh, no!" Hermione says disappointedly, so I shove her and joke that she could still take them for fun. I laugh when she actually considers this.

The Dumbledore announces that, unfortunately, Professor Lockhart would be unable to return next year, owing to the fact that he needs to go away and get his memory back.

Quite a few teachers join in the cheering that greets this good news.

I, however, pout into my pudding as Ron helps himself to another jam doughnut.

"Shame," he says. "He was starting to grow on me."

"Can't we just keep him as a pet or something?" I suggest. "He doesn't really need his memory, does he?"

He snorts and starts choking on the sweet dessert.

The rest of the final term passes in a haze of blazing sunshine.

Hogwarts was back to normal with only a few, small differences.

Defense Against the Dark Arts classes are canceled ("good, I can't handle any more dark things," Ginny says looking quite green) and apparently, Lucius Malfoy was sacked as a school governor.

To my great satisfaction, Draco is no longer strutting around the school as though he owned to place. I enjoy his sulky attitude immensely.

Ginny, in the other hand and to my great relief, looks happy again and no longer has that worry line between her brows with everything we do.

Soon though, before I can blink, I'm being stuffed into a compartment on the train with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny.

Astrid spends most of this ride hissing from my shoulder at Ron's pet rat, Scabbers.

They all took time out of their fun last few hours of doing magic, to laugh as the rat as big as my kitten, chased her across our laps.

"Keep that thing away from us!" I say scowling at the grey thing that keeps coming into my lap to have a go at Astrid.

"It's not my fault you have a tiny cat!" Ron says indignantly as he scoops Scabbers away and shoves him into his pocket.

Then we are rolling into Kings Cross Station and we, or rather I, am struggling with my trunk down the steps of the bus.

Giving up, I sigh and pull out my wand.

"Wingdarium leviosa." I say and it magically lifts off the ground.

Hermione grins at me farther in the crowd.

I set it in the nearest empty basket and roll it through the barrier, Ginny following amusedly behind me.

She carries nothing, her brothers having seen to taking care of it themselves.

"You'll write, won't you?" I ask.

"As much as I can." She replies. "Maybe you can come visit?"

I bite my lip as I see my father appear in the mass of Muggles, grimacing.

"Maybe. My father might not allow it."

She sighs and we watch as Harry says goodbye to Ron and his Family.

"Plus, I don't think that you're parents would like me very much. I was rather rude to them when we first met."

"Because you were defending me! Trust me, they love you already."

"I have to go." I say quickly, glancing at my father as he comes closer. "Write me."

"Yeah." She agrees with a frown as I hurry away.

I see Hermione start to come over, maybe to say goodbye, but I just wave passing her.

She frowns as well, and stops in her tracks but I don't have time to explain to her.

My father is an impatient man and doesn't like to be kept waiting.

"Dad." I greet and he just grunts.

"Alex."

And that's it. He takes my trunk from the basket and lugs it out of the station, me following closely behind with my head down.

We soon turn into a dark ally and he takes my arm. There is an intense wind and a feeling like I'm being sucked through a straw, and then I'm stumbling on the carpet in my large living room.

I look up and stare into the painting of a boy. A tall one with black hair and a familiar smirk.

"Dad," I say, voice shaking slightly. "Who is that?"

My father looks up in uninterested from dusting himself.

"That is Tom Riddle, your grandfather. He left your grandmother before she could tell him that she was pregnant with me."

Even though I halfway knew the answer, my face pales and my gut wrenches.


End file.
